368 



FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



In place of the above bonds there have been 

 issued bonds bearing interest as follows : 



making a saving in the annual interest since 

 March 1, 1877, of $14,290,416.50. 



These transactions have been accomplished 

 without the loss of a dollar, and without ap- 

 preciably disturbing the current business of 

 the country. 



The entire transactions in refunding since 

 1870 have been as follows: 



In place of the above bonds there have been 

 issued bonds bearing interest as follows : 



making an annual saving hereafter in the in- 

 terest charge on account of refunding opera- 

 tions of $19,900,846.50. 



The following-described bonds will mature in 

 1880 and 1881 : 



Of these bonds, the loan of February 8, 1861, 

 maturing December 31, 1880, is payable upon 

 the demand of the holders, and can probably 

 be provided for from the surplus revenues. 



Under the refunding acts of July 14, 1870, 

 and January 20, 1871, bonds for refunding 

 purposes were authorized in the amount of 

 $1,500,000,000. Of this amount there have 

 been issued, as above stated, $1,395,345,950, 

 leaving available for future refunding opera- 

 tions $104,654,050. 



A distinctive paper has been adopted for 

 printing public securities. It has for its spe- 

 cial feature a continuous silken thread and dis- 

 tributed silk fiber of different colors, both of 

 which are incorporated with the pulp in the 

 process of manufacture. 



The value of the coinage executed during the 

 year was : 



Gold $40,986,912 00 



Standard silver dollars 27,227,600 00 



Subsidiary silver coin 882 50 



Minorcoin 97,798 00 



Total $68,312,59260 



Gold and silver were separated in the refin- 

 eries of the mints and the assay-office at New 

 York in the amount of $20,759,549.97 in gold, 

 and $10,687,526.97 in silver, a total of $31,- 

 447,076.94, and fine and unparted bars were 

 made in the amount of $12,976,812.68 of gold, 

 and $9,045,802.11 of silver. The coinage of 

 standard silver dollars has been kept fully up 

 to the requirements of law, notwithstanding 

 the difficulty experienced in procuring silver 

 bullion for the mints at San Francisco and 

 Carson, at market rates. The amount of silver 

 coin of less than a dollar provided for by law 

 having been executed, the coinage of this 

 money has been suspended. The demand for 

 minor coins, particularly for the one-cent piece, 

 has been pressing. The bullion production 

 from the mines of the United States for the 

 last year is estimated by the Director to be 

 nearly $80,000,000, the proportions of gold 

 and silver being about equal. The year's total 

 production is less than that of the preceding 

 year, caused by a diminution in the yield of 

 the mines of Nevada, which was not compen- 

 sated by increased production in other places. 

 The Director estimates the coin in the country 

 on October 31, 1879, at $305,750,497 of gold, 

 and $121,456,355 of silver. The bullion in the 

 mints and New York assay-office at that date 

 awaiting coinage amounted to $49,931,035 of 

 gold, and $4,553,182 of silver, making the total 

 amount of coin and bullion $481,691,069. 



The market value of the bullion in the silver 

 dollar has been during the past year from 10 

 to 16 per cent, less than the market value of 

 the bullion in the gold dollar. The total 

 amount of silver dollars coined to November 

 1, 1879, under the act of February 28, 1878, 

 was $45,206,200, of which $13,002,842 was 

 in circulation, and the remainder, $32,203,358, 

 in the Treasury at that time. No effort has 

 been spared to put this coin in circulation. 



