264 



FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



so many different climates, and having such 

 diversified products, that a failure of all the 

 crops in any one year is a contingency too re- 

 mote to be considered. There is. however, in 

 monetary circles some apprehension of a dis- 

 turbance before long in the currency of the 

 country, the condition of which is not wholly 

 satisfactory. 



The gold coins of the United States are issued 

 under the authority of section 3,511 of the Re- 

 vised Statutes, taken from section 14 of the 

 act of February 12, 1873, which provides as 

 follows : 



SECTION 3,511. The gold coins of the United States 

 shall be a one-dollar piece, which, at the standard 

 weight of twenty-five and eight tenths grains, shall 

 be the unit of value ; a quarter-eagle, or two-and-a- 

 half-dollar piece ; a three-dollar piece ; a half-eagle, 

 or five-dollar piece ; an eagle, or ten-dollar piece ; and 

 a double-eagle, or twenty-dollar piece. And the stand- 

 ard weight of the gold dollar shall be twenty -five and 

 eight tenths grains ; of the quarter-eagle, or two-and- 

 a-half dollar piece, sixty-four and a half grains ; of 

 the three-dollar piece, seventy-seven and four tenths 

 grains ; of the half-eagle, or five-dollar piece, one hun- 

 dred and twenty-nine grains ; of the eagle, or ten- 

 dollar piece, two hundred and fifty-eight grains ; of 

 the double-eagle, or twenty-dollar piece, five hundred 

 and sixteen grains. 



SEC. 3,505. Any gold coins of the United States, if 

 reduced in weight by natural abrasion not more than 

 one half of one per centum below the standard weight 

 prescribed by law. after a circulation of twenty years, 

 as shown by the date of coinage, and at a ratable pro- 

 portion for any period less than twenty years, shall be 

 received at their nominal value by the United States 

 Treasury and its offices, under such regulations as the 

 Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe for the pro- 

 tection of the Government against fraudulent abrasion 

 or other practices. 



SEC. 3,512. Any gold coins in the Treasury of the 

 United States, when reduced in weight by natural 

 abrasion more than one half of one per centum below 

 the standard weight prescribed by law, shall be re- 

 coined. 



SEC. 3,585. The gold coins of the United States shall 

 be a legal tender m all payments at their nominal 

 value when not below the standard weight and limit 

 of tolerance provided by law for the single piece, and, 

 when reduced in weight below such standard and 

 tolerance, shall be a legal tender at valuation in pro- 

 portion to their actual weight. 



Section > 3,525 of the Revised Statutes, taken 

 from section 36 of the same act, provides as 

 follows: 



SEC. 3,535. In adjusting the weights of the gold 

 coins, the following deviations shall not be exceeded 

 in any single piece : In the double-eagle and the eagle, 

 one half of a grain ; in the half-eagle, the three-dollar 

 piece, the quarter-eagle, and the one-dollar piece, one 

 fourth of agrain. And in weighing a number of pieces 

 together, when delivered by the coiner to the super- 

 intendent, and by the superintendent to the depositor, 

 the deviation from the standard weight shall not ex- 

 ceed one hundredth of an ounce in five thousand dol- 

 lars in double-eagles, eagles, half-eagles, or quarter- 

 eagles, in one thousand three-dollar pieces, and in one 

 thousand one-dollar pieces. 



And section 3,519 also provides that any 

 owner of gold bullion may deposit it at any 

 mint, to be formed into coin or bars. 



It will be seen that the law fixes the one- 

 dollar gold-piece as the unit of value in the 

 United States, and makes all gold coins of full 



weight a legal tender in payment of all debts, 

 public and private. As the gold coins are now 

 coming into more general circulation, it should 

 be noticed that when they are reduced by nat- 

 ural abrasion to a certain extent, as mentioned 

 above, they cease to be a legal tender for their 

 nominal value, and become a legal tender only 

 for their value as bullion. To determine ac- 

 curately whether such light-weight coins have 

 been abraded below the limit of tolerance re- 

 quires delicate weighing and an intricate cal- 

 culation; but in making tender in disputed 

 cases, the precise law on the subject may be- 

 come of vital importance, and should be well 

 understood. 



The law having declared the gold dollar to 

 be the unit of value in our currency, uniformity 

 would require all other denominations of cur- 

 rency to bear to this unit certain natural and 

 fixed relations ; but, in the various acts au- 

 thorizing the other currencies, no attention 

 seems to have been paid to this important pro- 

 vision. 



The silver dollar is made to contain 412*5 

 grains, nine tenths of which are to be pure sil- 

 ver; and this coin is also made a legal tender 

 in payment of all debts, public or private, 

 equally with gold coin. As the market value 

 of the silver in this dollar is about one tenth 

 less than the market value of the gold in the 

 gold dollar, the currency system provides two 

 dollars having equal legal power in discharg- 

 ing debt, but bearing in market value a relation 

 to each other of about 100 to 90. But under 

 the law the coinage of the silver dollar is not 

 free to depositors of silver bullion, as is that 

 of gold to the depositors of gold bullion. For 

 the coinage of silver dollars the Government 

 is required to purchase the silver on the best 

 terms obtainable, and to coin not less than 

 $2,000,000 or more than $4,000,000 worth each 

 month. By means of these restrictions in the 

 coinage, the silver dollars have thus far been 

 kept in circulation on a par with gold. To 

 November 1st the difference between the mar- 

 ket value of the silver bullion, as paid for by 

 the Government, and the nominal value of the 

 coins made therefrom, was $8,520,871.45, and 

 this amount may well be called fiat money, 

 the material costing nothing, as it had been 

 taken from the bullion purchased, and was ne- 

 cessary to make the silver coinage equal in in- 

 trinsic value to the gold coinage. It will thus 

 be seen that the currency of the country is not 

 based upon either a double or a single standard. 



The Secretary of the Treasury in his annual 

 report recommends the suspension of the coin- 

 age of the silver dollars, and negotiations with 

 foreign powers for the adoption of an inter- 

 national ratio between the gold and silver 

 coins; or, as an alternative, such an increase 

 in the number of grains of silver in the dollar 

 as to make it equal in market value to the gold 

 dollar, its coinage to be left to depend upon 

 the demand for it, as in the case of gold coin- 

 age. 



