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1793,—and before any regular copper coinage took place,―reduced to 208 grains; and by proclamation of the President, January 20, 1796, in conformity with an Act of March 3, 1795, it was further reduced to 168 grains.

The weight of the half-cent was, by the Act of January 14, 1793, reduced to 104 grains, and afterwards by the Proclamation and Act above referred to, the weight of the half-cent was further reduced to 84 grains. The reduction in weight was made on account of an increase in the price of copper, and also because the expenses of coinage proved to be greater than the first estimate.

The coinage of copper cents and half-cents was discontinued under the provisions of the Act of February 21, 1857, up to which time the total coinage was: Cents, $1,562,887.44; Half cents, $39,926.10.

The Act of February 21, 1857, authorized the coinage of a cent of 72 grains, composed of eightyeight parts copper and twelve parts nickel. The Act of April 22, 1864, discontinued the coinage of this alloy and authorized the coinage of a one-cent piece, weighing 48 grains, composed of 95 per cent. copper and 5 per cent. tin and zinc.

The total amount of copper-nickel cents struck was $2,007,720, and of bronze, to close of fiscal year 1876, $1,697,065. The weight and alloy of the bronze cent has not since been changed, but remains

as fixed by the Act of April 22, 1864, by which Act the coinage was authorized of a two-cent bronze piece of the same alloy, weighing 96 grains. This two-cent piece was discontinued by the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873.

The Act of March 3, 1865, authorized a threecent coin, weighing 30 grains, composed of 75 parts copper and 25 parts nickel, and the Act of May 16, 1866, authorized a five-cent piece, weighing 77.16 grains, or 5 grams, metric system, composed of the same alloy, 75 parts copper and 25 parts nickel.

Both pieces continue to be coined; the amounts to close of fiscal year 1876 were, respectively, of the three-cent piece, $855,090, and of the five, $5,747,840.

The Act of April 22, 1864, made the one-cent bronze coin a legal tender to the amount of ten cents, and the two-cent bronze piece to the amount of twenty cents.

Then, for the first time, was a legal-tender character given to coins composed of other metals than gold and silver. Following this precedent, the threecent and five-cent copper-nickel pieces were made legal tenders in sums not exceeding sixty cents and one dollar, respectively. The legal tender of onecent and two-cent coins was, by the Act of March 3, 1865, reduced to four cents.

A new and important feature in respect to minor

coins was the incorporation in the Act of May 16, 1866, of a provision requiring the United States. Treasury "to redeem in national currency" the fivecent copper-nickel coins when presented in sums of not less than one hundred dollars.

The Act of March 3, 1865, discontinued the issue of fractional paper notes below the denomination of five cents, and that of May 16, 1866, notes of less denomination than ten cents, and provided for the withdrawal and cancellation of such issues.

No restriction was placed by law on the issue of the different token-coins, and the amount in circulation finally became redundant until much inconvenience arose therefrom, particularly to persons who, from the nature of their business, were compelled to receive numerous payments in small sums.

To provide a remedy for this evil, the Act of March 3, 1871, required the Secretary of the Treasury to redeem in lawful money all copper, bronze, copper-nickel, and base metal coinage of the United States. The same Act authorized the Secretary to discontinue, or diminish from time to time, the manufacture and issue of such coinage.

The five-cent and three-cent copper-nickel, and one-cent bronze coins, were, by the Coinage Act of 1873, made a legal tender, at their nominal value, for any amount not exceeding twenty-five cents in any one payment, and this is the existing law.

CHAPTER VIII.

COINAGE CHARGE, SEIGNIORAGE, GAIN FROM THE MANUFACTURE AND ISSUE OF MINOR COINS.

U

NDER our mint system no charge or deduction

whatever was made for the coinage of gold and silver prior to the Act of February 21, 1853, which took effect from and after July 1 of that year. This Act provided that "whether the gold and silver deposited be coined or cast into bars or ingots," there should be a charge to the depositor, (in addition to the charge made under previous laws for refining or parting the metals), of one-half of one per cent.

This applied to gold and silver bars, gold coin and silver dollars.

On the third of March following, the provisions of the above Act were modified so as to alter the charge of one-half per cent. for making bars to the actual cost of the operation.

The charge for making gold coins and silver dollars remained at one-half per cent. until April 1, 1873,

when, under the provisions of the Coinage Act of that year, it was reduced to one-fifth of one per cent. for the gold coinage; the coinage of silver dollars had been, by the same Act, discontinued.

Although the cost of coining silver per dollar in value is probably about four times as great as that of gold, no difference was made in the charge for coining the two metals by the Act of 1853.

This was due, no doubt, to the provision made in the same Act, whereby all the silver coins, except the dollar piece, were thereafter to be coined on account of the Public Treasury, as well as to the belief entertained at the time that there would not be any considerable quantity of silver dollars coined, their bullion value being above their nominal or legal-tender value.

Under the provisions of the Act, the bullion required for the coinage of the half-dollar, quarter-dollar, dime, and half-dime, and the three-cent silver piece, was purchased, through the Mints, by the Treasury, and coined and issued on its account; the difference between the cost of the bullion including expense of manufacturing the coins, and their tale value, being the seigniorage or gain realized by the GovernNo change in respect to the issue of these coins has since been made.

ment.

All copper, bronze, and copper-nickel coins have,