It is from measure that weight is properly deduced. Coins are adjusted by weight; and imaginary moneys, whether of account or exchange, are valued from their established relation to coin. WEIGHT. Weight may be defined as a natural property of matter, proportioned to its bulk and the density of its parts. It is determined by being balanced in a scale, against some known or acknowledged weight, placed in the opposite side. The following are the chief properties of weight, as demonstrated by Sir Isaac Newton, viz. : 1. The weight of all bodies, at equal distances from the centre of the earth, is directly proportioned to the quantity of matter that each contains. 2. On different parts of the earth's surface, the weight of the same body is different; increasing from the equator to the pole in proportion to the sine of the latitude. 3. That the weight of the same body, at different distances from the earth, is inversely as the squares of the distances from the centre of the same. 4. That, at different distances within the earth, or below its surface, the weight of the same body is directly as is the distance from the earth's centre; so that, half way toward the centre of the earth, a body would weigh but half as much as at the surface, and at the exact centre it would have no weight at all. 5. That a body, immersed in a fluid which is specifically lighter than itself, loses so much of its weight as is equal to the weight of the quantity of the fluid displaced. Standard signifies any measure or weight of established authority, by which others are sized or adjusted. It is distinguished as being arbitrary, from human sources; or, invariable, from nature or God. The former is that which is almost universally adopted, and the latter is intended to restore the former, if lost, and, hence, serve as a model or guide to new systems of meterology. From the highly intrinsic value of the materials which have been adopted for the formation of money, and from the necessity of adding to them materials of inferior worth for their preservation, has been derived the practice of reducing such mixtures to a fixed proportion, which is denominated the standard, or fineness. From the indefinite account which Cæsar has left us in relation to the brazen and iron money in use among the ancient Britons, no positive conclusion can be reached relative to any standard having been adopted by them, as he has only said, "They adjusted their brazen masses and iron rings to a fixed weight." In 1266, it was enacted 51 Edward III.-"That an English penny, called a sterling round, and without clipping, shall weigh thirty-two wheat-corns from the middle of the ear; twenty pence to make one ounce, twelve ounces one pound, eight pounds one gallon of wine, and eight gallons of wine one London bushel." Soon after, the weight of the penny was represented by metallic grains, which are supposed to have been the same as the modern Troy grains. STERLING. Though this word is now an established one, and familiar to us in its application, its origin or derivation is considered by some to be uncertain and unsettled. The opinion of writers relative to it is various; but the most probable is that which deduces it from the Easterlings, who were said to have been expert refiners from the eastern part of Germany, and who came into England, and first established the standard properties of silver, viz.: 11 oz. 2 dwt. fine silver and 18 dwt. alloy. Ruding fixes the time between the year 1086, when the great survey of the kingdom was completed in the reign of William I., and the 4th of Henry II., A. D. 1158, when it first came into use. Whatever may be the etymology of the word, or the period of its introduction, it is certain that it has been in use all over the world, as particularly designating the money of England; and it is a marked feature in the history of coinage, that the fineness of silver money, expressed by the term sterling, has preserved its integrity and the confidence of commercial nations uninterruptedly, from the reign of Henry II. down to the present time, fully seven hundred years. COINS. Coins are pieces of metal, in shape round and flat, generally stamped by authority of Government with certain impressions, designed to give them a legal and, hence, current value, and also a guarantee for a particular weight and fineness. Gold, silver, and copper, are the most desirable metals for coins. Of all the metals, gold is the most valuable, and the most difficult of imitation, being remarkable for its rich color, the beauty of its polish, and its slight liability to change. It is so malleable, that gold leaf can be reduced to the thickness of the 300-1000 part of an inch, and gold gilding to the ten-millionth part of the same. Silver follows next in value, and can be reduced to 170-1000 part of an inch in thickness; its density, compared with that of gold, being as 170 to 300, and their specific gravity nearly in the same proportion; that is, as 105 to 193. The value of gold and silver, commercially, they being the subjects of purchase and sale, is fluctuating. At the present day, 15 oz. of silver are equal to one of gold. In all regular governments, a standard for coins has been fixed by law; that is, a certain proportion between the quantity of pure metal and alloy. The fineness of gold is generally expressed in carats - twenty-two of which are of pure metal, and two alloy. Hence, the standard of gold is said to be twenty-two carats fine. Lately, the gold and silver of our own mint, and the mints of most other countries, are alloyed in the proportion of one to ten, which seems to afford a sufficient degree of resistance to abrasion. The alloy of silver is generally copper, and that of gold, both silver and copper. In the computation of the value of coins, the alloy is not included. In England, France, and Germany, the theory now is, to dispense with the silver as alloy in the gold coins, and use copper only. In our own country, to retain the gold color, both silver and copper are used, and the proportions are-900 parts gold, 25 silver, and 75 copper-1000. Beside the standard of fineness of coins, there is a legal weight fixed "of rates of coinage"-a mint regulation. In the mint regulations of most countries, there is an allowance for deviation from the standard weights and fineness of coins, which is termed "the remedy of the mint." In In some, the "remedy" is applied in the weight, and in others, in the fineness. Sometimes it is made a source of emolument, and when the government issues coins at a rate above their intrinsic value, or the market price of the metals, the gain is called seignorage, and the charges for mint expenses are denominated brassage. COINAGE. MONEYER" a reponsible and authorized manufacturer of coin". been at one time an important personage, and very naturally so when the art of coining was so little understood. In the 33d year of Henry II., the moneyers of York were expressly exempted from the payment of the donum, which was assessed upon the population. In the 18th year of Henry III., the mayor of the city of London was commanded not to interfere with the liberty of the king's moneyers, by exacting talliage from them. The cut in the margin represents a moneyer jubilant at the king's favor. In less than eight years thereafter, this exemption or favor to the moneyers was extended to all the officers of the mint. appears to have The office of Cuneator-from L. cuneus, a wedge- or coiner, was held in high repute, and descended by inheritance, even into the female line; and it was construed so strictly as a right or property, as to be the subject of alienation or transfer.' In 'Doughdale's Baronage, vol. ii. p. 31. the 18th year of Edward III., the widow of the former possessor of the office sold it to William Lord Talimer, for himself and his heirs, which office he held till his death, which occured in the 4th year of Richard II. The mode of coining was very rude, the means employed being to fix one die firmly into a wooden block, the other into a puncheon, which, being applied to the prepared metal, and struck by hand with a mallet, made the impression. This method was probably coeval with the first regular attempts at coining. See Cut. The new coins that made their appearance in the 18th year of Edward I., were made by the following process, viz. the metal was cast into bars from the melting-pot; these were cut by shears into square pieces of exact weight; then with tongs and hammer they were forged into a round shape; after which they were blanched by nealing or boiling, and afterwards stamped or impressed with a hammer.' The next improvement in coining is best exhibited by the annexed cut, into the faces of which were inserted the obverse and reverse die. This contrivance was worked by hand, with the aid of a pulley. Though peculiar, it is nevertheless true, that no improvement of any importance upon this machine was made till the power of the screw was applied to coinage, in their mint, about the middle of the sixteenth century; and which was introduced into the English mint about the year 1561, when it was worked in conjunction with the old process, till the latter was wholly abandoned in the 14th year of Charles II., 1662. From that time, till some few years ago, only very slight improvements have been made in the machinery of the English mint, which consisted of a lever, to which the upper die was attached, worked by a fly, which forced it down upon the stationary die beneath. This machine was known by the term, mill and screw, and was a material improvement, in power, over the hand and the pulley, as it made the impression by a single application, and hence was a great saving of time and labor. 1 Leak, p. 76; quoting the Red-Book. 2 La Blanc, Historique de Monnage France, p. 68. In 1787, Mr. Boulton, of France, invented a powerful machine, concentrating, in one operation, all the requirements of a mint; such as rolling the metal, cutting the blanks, shaking them together to wear down the edges, and working at the same time any number of stamping machines, a single movement of which made a perfect impression upon both faces of the metal, and milled or stamped its edges — thus forming a perfect coin.' The earliest specimens of milled money appeared in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; legends upon the edges of coins, date from 1651, as they occur upon those made by the process of Blondeau and Ramage at the time of the Commonwealth. This process was by impressing the letters upon the edge of the coin, by enclosing the blanks in a collar which contained the letters, of the same diameter as the pieces to be impressed, but of less thickness. The blank, thus placed, being struck with the die, expanded under it, and received the impression of what might have been placed in the collar, which opened by means of four joints, and permitted the coin to escape. The operation, which is known by the name of milling, was first applied to coins in 1663, the strokes having been given at that time at right angles across the edge; in 1669, diagonal strokes were introduced, but still not meeting the requirement against counterfeiting, angular strokes were substituted in 1739, which increased the protection." In 1685, however, the invention by Monsieur Casting for milling, made its appearance, and then the impression given to the edge of coins was by passing them between two plates-one stationary, the other movable by a pinion which worked in teeth on the back edge of the same. By this process, one-half of the legend was cut in each of the pieces, so that when the coins had been impressed or engraved by the movable plate to the end of that which was stationary, the impression upon the edge of the coin was complete. 1 Shaw's History of Staffordshire, vol. ii. p. 118. See the Account of the Mint at Soho. |