443 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



eagle is far greater than that of all the other 

 gold pieces of the country. 



2. The eagle, or $10 piece. Its coinage 

 was authorized by the Act of April 2, 1792. 

 The weight was first established by law at 

 270 grains, but was changed forty-two years 

 afterward, by the Act of June 28, 1834, to 258 

 grains, where it has remained ever since. Its 

 fineness was in the beginning made 916, 

 but was changed by the Act of June 28, 

 1834, the same act that lowered its weight, to 

 899.225. Two years and a half subsequently 

 its fineness was increased less than one part 

 in a thousand to 900. Its weight and fine- 

 ness have remained thus fixed to the present 

 day. 



3. The half eagle, or $5 piece. This ele- 

 gant coin has undergone the same vicissitudes 

 as the eagle. Its coinage was authorized by 

 the same Act of April 2, 1792. Its weight 

 was 135 grains, and its fineness 916. By the 

 Act of June 28, 1834, its weight was reduced 

 to 129 grains, and its fineness to 899.225. By 

 the Act of January 16, 1857, its fineness was 

 slightly raised to the uniform standard of 900. 

 Its weight and fineness have thus remained to 

 our time. 



4. The quarter eagle, or $2.50 piece. This 

 fine coin belongs to the same family with the 

 eagle and half eagle. Its coinage was author- 

 ized, its weight and fineness correspondingly 

 altered, by the same acts. The statute of 1792 

 made its weight 67.5 grains and its fineness 

 916. Its weight was reduced to 64.5 grains 

 and its fineness to 800.225 by the Act of 1834. 

 The Act of 1837 raised its fineness to 900. 



5. The dollar. This pretty little gold piece 

 was created by the Act of March 3, 1849, the 

 same act that authorized the coinage of the 

 double eagle. It has remained unchanged. 

 Its weight is 25.8 grains and its fineness 900. 



6. Three-dollar piece. An Act of February 

 21, 1853, established this irregular coin. Its 

 weight, 77.4 grains, and its fineness 900, are 

 of the normal standard, and have not been 

 changed by subsequent acts. 



In gold coin the alloy was at first a com- 

 pound of silver and copper. It was forbidden 

 by statute that the alloy should be more than 

 half silver. It is now nearly all copper, owing 

 to advances in the art of assaying and im- 

 proved methods in coinage. 



There are four coining mints, located at 

 Philadelphia, Pa. ; San Francisco, Cal. ; Car- 

 son City, Nev. ; and New Orleans, La., the 

 last one being put in operation on January 20, 

 1879. The largest proportion of assaying and 

 refining is done at New York city ; Helena, 

 Montana ; Bois6 City, Idaho ; and Denver, 

 Colorado. 



The Philadelphia Mint is capable of turning 

 out about$l,500,000 in coined money a month ; 

 the San Francisco Mint, $1,000,000 ; the Car- 

 son City Mint, $500,000 ; and the New Or- 

 leans Mint about 500,000 pieces of various 

 denominations. Under the law of February 28, 

 1878, which required that between 2,000,000 

 and 4,000,000 of the new (" Bland ") dollars 

 should be turned out by the mints every 

 month, the coining facilities of the govern- 

 ment were severely tested to produce this par- 

 ticular silver coin, and maintain the usual 

 supply of gold and subsidiary coins. Silver is 

 sent from the assay offices to the mints pure, 

 or 999 fine,, which is about as pure as silver 

 can be. It is sent in large bars, and, when 

 received at the mint, is melted and alloyed 

 with copper. Coin silver is 900 fine. 



The first silver coins were struck in 1794 

 (authorized in 1792), at the Philadelphia Mint, 

 and consisted of 1,758 dollars, and 10,600 half 

 dollars, and a few half dimes (5 cents), more 

 for curiosities than use. In the succeeding 

 year the issue was 203,033 dollars, 323,038 

 half dollars, no quarters, no dimes, and 86,416 

 half dimes. In 1796 the mint coined only 

 72,920 dollars, and 3,918 half dollars, with 

 2,948 quarters. In 1797 the number of dol- 

 lars issued was 2,776, and the mint records 

 state that there were no half dollars and only 

 252 quarters. Dollars only were coined in 

 1798. In 1796 the head of Liberty was 

 changed, and a new head, inferior in point of 

 comeliness, substituted. This also had flow- 

 ing locks, but these were bound by a broad 

 fillet, and hence the name "fillet dollars." 

 In 1798 there were no halves nor quarters, 

 and there were none in 1799, nor again in 

 1800. But in the following year the half 

 dollars were commenced again, being of the 

 fillet series, with the heraldic eagle on the 

 reverse. 



1804 is the annus mirdbilis of the American 

 silver coins. According to the records, 19,570 

 dollars were issued, 156,519 halves, and 6,738 

 quarters. There are but two dollars of 1804 

 known to exist, and these are said to have been 

 struck surreptitiously from the original die at 

 the Philadelphia mint in 1827. The value of 

 these two to numismaticians is enormous ; as 

 high as $1,000 has been refused for one of 

 them. 



The first dollar pieces (1792) contained 416 

 grains cf silver of 892.7 fineness, and this pro- 

 portion was maintained until 1873, when the 

 quantity of silver was reduced to 412.5 grains, 

 and the fineness increased to 900. The fifty- 

 cent pieces, from 1792 to 1837, contained 208 

 grains, 892.7 fineness, and the twenty-five cent 

 pieces a proportionate amount ; and both were 



