94 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



[vol. 50 



Various coins also have been issued by private parties, especially by 

 gold-mining firms and corporations, to meet local monetary needs ; 

 but those coins, although of genuine intrinsic value and freely cur- 

 rent in the regions of their origin, were not legally recognized as 

 money and soon went entirely out of use as such. 



The Monetary System of the United States 



Denominations. 



The mill . 



The cent. 



Divisions and multiples. 



Metals. 



The dime. . 



The dollar. 



r 



The eagle. . . . -j 



Constructive unit 



No coin. 



d o. 



d o. 



A. 



dA. 



d A. 



Half-cent. 

 One cent ( 



One cent (small) 



One cent 



Two cents . . . . 



d A. Three cents. 



d A. Three cents 



d A. Twenty cents . . . 



Copper, 

 arge) Copper. 



Copper 



Nickel-copper. 



Copper 



Nickel 



Silver 



.Silver 



d o. Half-dime Silver . 



A. Half-dime Nickel. 



o. Dime Silver . 



o. Quarter dollar 



o. Half-dollar. . . . 



o. Dollar 



d A. Dollar 



Silver 

 Silver 

 Silver 

 Gold.. 



Quarter eagle Gold. 



Half-eagle Gold. 



Eagle Gold. 



Double eagle Gold. 



Values. 



$0,001 



0.005 



0.01 



0.01 



O.OI 



0.02 



0.03 

 0.03 



o 20 



0.05 

 0.05 



o. 10 



0.25 

 0.50 



1. 00 

 1. 00 



2.50 

 5.00 



10.00 

 20.00 



o. Originally designated by law. 

 A. Added by law to the original list. 

 d. Coinage now discontinued. 



Originally the idea seems to have prevailed that only copper, 

 silver, and gold were suitable for coinage, but nickel was intro- 

 duced into our system after its original establishment. For a time 

 that metal was used in varying proportions for coins of several 

 small values, but it is now used only for the half-dime, which 

 has come to be called specifically the nickel. Originally also 

 the idea seems to have prevailed that definite ratios of intrinsic 

 value naturally existed between copper, silver, and gold. The dif- 

 ference in size and palpable weight between the gold and silver 

 coins of equal value and between silver coins and the large copper 

 cent were generally accepted by the people as object lessons on the 

 subject of those ratios. The assumed ratio between copper and 



