AMERICAN SUPERIORITY 291 



American coins are almost of pure silver and conse- 

 quently small in size compared with pieces of similar 

 values of other nations. Dimes and reals are no larger 

 than silvergroschen. Quarters resemble your (now no- 

 torious) half gulden. Half dollars are as large as, and 

 thicker than the large Prussian gulden, and the whole 

 dollar is of the size of an old Prussian thaler. Spanish 

 coins are old and uncomely. 



Gold coins. I shall pass the half and quarter-dollar 

 pieces, which are too small to he practicable and are gen- 

 erally looked upon as curiosities. Even the 



I. Dollar coins are only of the size of half a sgr. 



II. Quarter Eagles— 2y 2 dollars— 3 thaler 16 sgr. 3 



Pfg. 



III. Half Eagles — 5 dollars— 7 thaler 2 sgr. 6 pfg. 



IV. Eagles— 10 dollars— 14 thaler 5 sgr. 



V. Double Eagles— 20 dollars— 28 thaler 10 sgr. 

 These are all the American denominations of gold 



coins, but fliere is much foreign gold in circulation, 

 though not in as large quantities as there is of silver. I 

 shall mention the most frequently met gold coins: Such 

 as pass for 



VI. Tiro Dollars — two thaler 20 sgr. Prussian. 

 Spanish Eight Ounce — two thaler 27 sgr. and which 



appear mostly in old Spanish, Mexican, Peruvian and 

 Chilean coinage. 



VII. Four Dollars— five thaler 20 sgr. Prussian. 



1. French Twenty Francs— five thaler 10 sgr. 



2. Dutch Ten Florins— five thaler 18 sgr. 



3. Danish Christian d'or — five thaler 20 sgr., rare. 



4. Hanoverian Fredrics d'or— same. 



5. Prussian Fredrics d'or— same. 



6. Spanish Quarter Ounce— frequent. 



VIII. Eight Dollars— eleven thaler 10 sgr. 

 Spanish Half Ounces. 



Hanoverian and Prussian Double Fredrics d'or, rare. 



IX. Sixteen Dollars — twenty-two thaler 20 sgr. Prus- 

 sian. 



Ounces only of old Spanish and Peruvian coinage 

 are quite rare. 



