SYSTEM OF THE

UNITED STATES.

In 1786 the Congress of the Confederation chose as the monetary unit of the United States the dollar of 375.64 grains of ure silver. This unit had its origin in the Spanish piaster or milled dollar, which constituted the basis of the metallic circulation of the English colonies in America. It was never coined, there being at that time no mint in the United States.

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The act of April 2, 1792, established the first monetary system of the United States. The bases of the system were: The gold dollar or unit, containing 24.75 grains of pure gold, and stamped in pieces of $10, $5 and $2.50, denominated, respectively, eagles, half eagles and quarter eagles; the silver dollar or unit, contalning 371.25 grains of pure silver. mint was established. The coinage was unlimited and there was no mint charge. The ratio of gold to silver in coinage Both gold and silver were was 1:15. legal tender. The standard was double. The act of 1792 undervalued gold, which was therefore exported. The act of June 28, 1834, was passed to remedy this, by changing the mint ratio between the metals to 1:16.002. This latter act fixed the weight of the gold dollar at 25.8 grains, but lowered the fineness from 0.916 2-3 to 0.899225. The fine weight of the gold dollar was thus reduced to 23.2 grains. The act of 1834 undervalued silver as that of 1792 had undervalued gold, and silver was attracted to Europe by the more favorable ratio of 1:15%. The act of January 18, 1837, was passed to make the fineness of the gold and silver coins uniform. The legal weight of the gold dollar was fixed at 25.8 grains, and its fine weight at 23.22 grains. The fineness was, therefore, changed by this act to 0.900 and the ratio to 1:15.988-1-.

The

Silver continued to be exported. act of February 21, 1853, reduced the weight of the silver coins of a denomination less than $1, which the acts of 1792 and 1837 had made exactly proportional to the weight of the silver dollar, and provided that they should be legal tender to the amount of only $5. Under the acts of 1792 and 1837 they had been full legal tender. By the act of 1853 the legal weight of the half dollar was reduced to 192 grains and that of the other fractions of the dollar in proportion. The coinage of the fractional parts of the dollar was reserved to the Government.

The act of February 12, 1873, provided that the unit of value of the United States should be the gold dollar of the standard weight of 25.8 grains, and that there should be coined besides the following gold coins: A quarter eagle, or $2.50 piece; a $3 piece; a half eagle, or $5 piece; an eagle, or $10 piece, and a double

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eagle, or $20 piece, all of a standard weight proportional to that of the dollar piece. These coins were made legal tender in all payments at their nominal value when not below the standard weight and limit of tolerance provided in the act for the single piece, and when reduced in weight they should be legal tender at valuation in proportion to their actual weight. The silver coins provided for by the act were a trade dollar, a half do.lar, or 50-cent piece, a quarter dollar, and a 10-cent piece; the weight of the trade dollar to be 420 grains Troy; the half dollar, 121⁄2 grams; the quarter dollar and the dime, respectively, one-half and one-fifth of the weight of the half dollar. These silver coins were made legal tender at their nominal value for any amount not exceeding $5 in any one payment. The charge for converting standard gold bullion into coin was fixed at one-fifth of 1 per cent. Owners of silver bullion were allowed to deposit it at any mint of the United States to be formed into bars or into trade dollars, and no deposit of silver for other coinage was to be received.

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The Secretary of the Treasury authorized and directed by the first section of the act to purchase from time to time silver bullion at the market price thereof, not less than $2,000,000 worth nor more than $4,000,000 worth per month, and to cause the same to be coined monthly, as fast as purchased, into such dollars. A subsequent act, that of July 14, 1890, enacted that the Secretary of the Treasury should purchase silver bullion to the aggregate amount of 4,500, 000 ounces, or so much thereof as might be offered, each month, at the market price thereof, not exceeding $1 for 371.25 grains of pure silver, and to issue in payment thereof Treasury notes of the United States, such notes to be redeemable by the Government, on demand, in coin, and to be legal tender in payment of all debts, public and private, except where otherwise expressly stipulated in the contract. The act directed the Secretary of the Treasury to coin each month 2,000,000 ounces of the silver bullion purchased under the provisions of the act into standard silver dollars until the 1st day of July, 1891, and thereafter as much as might be necessary, to provide for the redemption of the Treasury notes issued under the act. The purchasing clause of the act of July 14, 1890, was repealed by the act of November 1, 1893.

The act of June 9, 1879, made the subsidiary silver coins of the United States legal tender to the amount of $10. The minor coins are legal tender to the amount of 25 cents.