Commercial tariffs and regulations, resources, and trade, of the several states of Europe and America

abroad, that nothing seems wanting but the actual coinage, to banish the discordant pounds, shilling, pence, and farthings of the different states, and to establish in their stead the new denominations."

On the 2nd of April, 1792, a code of laws was enacted for the establishment and regulation of the mint, under which, with slight amendments, the coinage was executed for forty-two years.

The denominations of coin, with their rates, were as follows:

GOLD. The eagle of ten dollars, to weigh 270 grains, the half and quarter in proportion; all of the fineness of 22 carats, or 917 thousandths.

SILVER. The dollar of 100 cents, to weigh 416 grains; the half-quarter, tenth or dime, and twentieth or half-dime, in proportion; the fineness to be 1485 parts in 1664,* or 892-4 thousandths.

COPPER. The cent, to weigh 264 grains; the half-cent in proportion.

Since the act of 1792, the following alterations in the standards have been made :—

On the 14th of January, 1793, the weight of the cent was reduced to 208 grains; the half cent in proportion.†

January 26th, 1796. President Washington issued a proclamation (as he had been empowered to do by law,) that, "on account of the increased price of copper, and the expence of coinage," the cent would be reduced to 7 dwts. or 168 grains, and the half-cent in proportion. The copper coins have since remained at this standard.

June 28th, 1834. An act was passed, changing the weight and fineness of the gold coins, and the relative value of gold to silver. Before stating the alterations, it may be proper to observe, that the estimate of gold as being worth fifteen times as much as silver, which was the original basis, was found too low at the market value; which, although always fluctuating, was nearer sixteen to one, upon a general average. The effect of the legal proportions was to reduce the coinage of gold, and to restrain its circulation; being always at a premium, the coin was immediately exported to Europe, in the course of trade, and there quickly wrought into other shapes.

In June, 1834, the weight of the eagle was reduced by law to 258 grains (the parts in proportion), of which 232 grains must be fine gold, making the fineness

*This was an arithmetical nicety, deduced from a weight of 416 grains, of which 3714 grains must be fine metal; this being considered the average contents of a Spanish dollar. The estimate was slightly erroneous, and makes our dollar of a little less value; the effect of which has been beneficial to our national coinage, as the difference, though not appreciable in ordinary currency, makes a considerable gain upon recoinage in large sums. See letter of Dr. Moore, late director of the mint, to a select committee of Congress, in 1832.

The mint was not fully in operation until January, 1795. engaged in experimenting; hence the variety of specimens, in date, which are now so much in request among the virtuosi. Washington cent.

Before that time it was rather silver and copper, anterior to that The most noted of these is the

681

21 carats 21 car. grains, or 8991. This was an increase of 6 per cent on the former value of gold. The silver coinage was not changed.

The standard of nine-tenths fine, as adopted in France and some other countries, was obviously the most simple, and upon every consideration, the most suitable. To bring the silver coins to that proportion, without changing the amount of fine silver in them, it was only necessary to put less copper, by three grains and a half, in the dollar, reducing its weight to 412 grains. The weight of the gold was not to be changed, but the fineness increased about three-fourths of one-thousandth, a difference far within the scope of the legal allowance, and hardly appreciable. These proportions were incorporated in a consolidated code of Mint Laws, enacted by Congress, in January, 1837. By that act, the eagle is to be 900-thousandths fine, and to weigh 258 grains; the half and quarter in proportion; and the dollar, at the same fineness, to weigh 412 grains; the parts in proportion. The allowed deviation in fineness, for gold, is from 898 to 902; for silver, 897 to 903.†

The following is a recapitulation of the various standards, of the gold and silver coins:

Until the year 1835, there was but one mint, which was established at Philadelphia. In that year three branches of the mint were created by act of Congress. Two of these, for the coinage of gold only, were to be situated at the towns of Charlotte, in North Carolina, and Dahlonega, in Georgia-central points of the gold mining region. The third branch was for both gold and silver, at New Orleans, the commercial emporium of the south-west. These three institutions, which, in the view of the law are not distinct mints, but rather branches of the mint, are respectively managed by superintendents, who are under the control of the director of the chief mint. The branches went into operation in the year 1838. Their coinage is uniform with that of the establishment at Philadelphia, being systematically tested there for approval.

The whole mint establishment, thus constituted, is itself a branch of the treasury department of the general government, and is under the supervision of the secretary of the treasury.

The whole coinage of the United States, during the year 1843, amounts to

*The relative value, therefore, of silver to gold, is 15.9884 to 1.

The practical limits here, are, for gold, 899 to 901; silver 898 to 902.

within a small fraction of 12,000,000 dollars, and exceeds, by more than one-half, that of any former year. Of this coinage, more than 8,000,000 dollars is in gold; showing a greater proportion to silver than has heretofore been presented.

The branch mints at Charlotte and Dahlonega, have each coined nearly double the amount which they have reached in any former year, and the New Orleans mint nearly quadruple.

The production of the gold mines of the United States, as indicated by the amount sent to the mints, exceeds that of any former year.

The following is a statement of deposits and coinage at the mint of the United States and branches, for the year ending 31st December, 1843 :