Report, together with minutes of Evidence, and Accounts,

A remarkable set of the original House of Commons Select Committee reports on the price of gold bullion.

'In February 1810, the House of Commons set up a Select Committee on the High Price of Gold Bullion to investigate why it had risen during the Napoleonic Wars. Since the Bank of England ceased to redeem its bank notes in gold in 1797, as its reserves were eroded by the war, the price was up 20 – extraordinary because it had been fixed at £4.25 per ounce in 1717 by Sir Isaac Newton, Master of the Mint, and this 'gold standard' had been stable for decades ever since. Now it was £4.65. What had caused the escalationý 'The debate,' J. K. Galbraith declared, 'was the most famous in all history on money and its management.' It also put the spotlight on the London Gold Market. Not just the Governor of the Bank England and the Clerk of its Bullion Office gave evidence, but also brokers, refiners, fabricators, merchants and exchange dealers. Every word of their testimony is in the Minutes of Evidence, which provide an account of the market from price-fixing, the role of the Bank's Bullion Office as the crossroads, to refiners and their sources of gold. Such a hands-on account has never been repeated.' (Timothy Green, Alchemist magazine).

The twenty-nine witnesses included, from the London bullion market, Aaron Goldsmid from the brokers Mocatta, Nathan Mayer Rothschild (appearing incognito), and John Humble of the Bank of England's Bullion Office. The evidence provided a unique insight into the gold trade in London. The key factor, however, was that the Bank of England, without the obligation of paying gold against notes, had printed them too freely. The Bullion Committee concluded there was 'an excess in the paper circulation … (due to) … insufficient check and control in the issue of paper from the Bank of England; and originally to the suspension of cash payments, which removed the natural and true control'. The Committee urged cash payments in gold be resumed within two years. In fact, full resumption did not occur until 1821.

Sir Robert Peel was the chairman of the Bullion committee. A notable member was David Ricardo.