The _par_ of the currency of any two countries means, among merchants,

the equivalency of a certain amount of the (coin) currency of the one
in the (coin) currency of the other, supposing the currencies of both
to be of the precise weight and purity fixed by the respective mints
The _par_ of the currency of any two countries means, among merchants,
the equivalency of a certain amount of the (coin) currency of the one
in the (coin) currency of the other, supposing the currencies of both
to be of the precise weight and purity fixed by the respective mints.
The par of exchange between Great Britain and the United States is
4.86-2/3; that is, L1 sterling is worth $4.86-2/3. Exchange is quoted
daily in New York and other city papers at 4.87, 4.88, 4.88-1/2, etc.,
for sight bills and at a higher rate for sixty-day bills. Business men
who are accustomed to watching fluctuations in exchange rates use the
quotations as a sort of barometer to foretell trade conditions. The
imports and exports of bullion (uncoined gold) are the real test of
exchange. If bullion is stationary, flowing neither into nor out of a
country, its exchanges may be truly said to be at par; and on the
other hand, if bullion is being exported from a country, it is a proof
that the exchange is against it; and conversely if there be large
importations.