COMMERCIAL VALUES OF FOREIGN COINS. 277 



COMMERCIAL VALUES OF FOREIGN COINS. 



Treasury Department, Office of the Director of the Mint. 



Washington, D. C, July 22, 1878. 

 Col. T. S. Case : 



Sir: I have received your letter of the 19th instant, enclosing newspaper 

 slips, relative to the value of the Mexican silver dollar, and requesting information 

 as to the correctness of the statements. 



The St. Louis Times states that the value of the Mexican dollar was fixed by 

 the Government, Jan. 1, 1878, at 99.8 cents, and is received by the Government 

 at that rate. The Mexican dollar is not receivable by the Government. Section 

 3584, Revised Statutes, declares that " No foreign gold or silver coins shall be a 

 legal tender in payment of debts." Treasury Circular No. 1, a copy of which is 

 herewith transmitted, fixes the value of the Mexican silver dollar at 99.8 cents as 

 compared with the U. S. Trade dollar. 



The valuations given in this circular have no reference whatever to the value 

 of the coins for circulation, but are for the purpose of changing into our money 

 terms for custom purposes, invoices of foreign merchandise, that may be made 

 out in their respective currencies. 



Mexican dollars, having no legal tender in the United States, have therefore 

 only a value as bullion, which fluctuates with the price of silver bullion. At cur- 

 rent rate, the bullion or intrinsic value of the Mexican dollar, if of full weight 

 and fineness, is about 91 cents, gold, per piece. The full legal weight is 417.- 

 790,536 grains, and the fineness 902.777. 



It is the legal tender qualification of the standard silver dollar of 412^ grains, 

 900 fine, that gives it for circulation its full nominal value, otherwise it would 

 have merely a bullion value, which, at current rate for silver bullion, would be 

 89.43 cents gold. Very respectfully, H. R. Linderman, Director. 



Circular exhibiting the values in United States' money of the pure gold or silver repre- 

 senting, respectively, the monetary units and standard coins of foreign countries, in 

 co?npliance with the act of March j, 1873. 

 18 ' 8 - „ , Treasury Department, 



Department Ino. 1. ' 



Secretary's Office. WASHINGTON, D. C. Jan. I, 1 87 8. 



The first section of the act of March 3, 1873, Statutes at Large, volume 17, 

 page 602, reproduced in Section 3564 of the Revised Statutes provides "that the 

 value of foreign coin, as expressed in the money of account of the United States, 

 shall be that of the pure metal of such coin of standard value," and that " the values 

 of the standard coins in circulation of the various nations of the world shall be esti- 

 mated annually by the Director of the Mint, and be proclaimed on the first day of 

 January by the Secretary of the Treasury. 



The estimate of values contained in the following table has been made by the 

 Director of the Mint, and is hereby proclaimed in compliance with the above- 

 stated provisions of law : 



