New-York tribune., 1842-02-08

II on. Q tlw,s. pure silver. and l3 dwts of alloy
This pound IS coined INTO 6G shngs, 20 tia, Gael.
Shilling contains &O7?1 grain, pur,, silver. ...
81 q grains standard silver; and the money ,souua
consisting Of 20 shilling- contains lGld54, gr;.s
standard silver
The Spanish dollar weighs dwts. 9 grains,
ii, standard weight i lG oI@ts aud Il gllinS, AID
tcontain, pare silver 81 9 gran.
L The American dollar Of $50. weighs | dwu.
and 10 grains, lis standard weight is IL dwts.
and IA grains and contains in purc liver :>'G8.3
grains.
The ayer=dollar ol=l795 contained 375.5
grains.
In Eng;,..d fro,, lGs0dowl,,o l& the pound
weight Of standard silver bullion was coined into
81 ,hi!lings. All the English silge. CONS have
been coined on, of silver II on: dw,s tiur.
from the Conquest 10 THIS moment, except Tor The
shor, period of sixteen wears, irolnthe Bath Henry
VIII to the I'd Elizabeth
The purity of gold Is 30, estimated by the
weights commonly III use, but. by the Apurcan
weight, called turof. iir, carat> are subdividc,l
into tour parts called grains, and these again into
quarters 80 lllat carat gain wii=rrspcct to
he conmon divisions OF pound Troy. is cq,liva-
lent to . - dw,>. Gold oi the highest degree Of
iineneSs nr purify j. said to l. ~ cari,s fine
When gold coins were frs, mad. at the English
mini, the standard OF gold put INTO them was y:
carats 3 - grains fine and L., Grain allow and
50 it continued wi,hou, ANY variation To the 18th
of lJcnrvztl the VIII who in ,i., vch; introduced Il;
new= standard of gold % carltS fine and > cara,s
OF alloy. HE first OF these standards called
Inc old and the second the ncw standard or
crown gold; because or pieces of the val
ne Of ) shiiling- were inst coined of this new
standard. Henry VIII. made his gold coins "
both Of these standards under ditlcrcn, dciorniua-
tons; and this practice was continued by h> sue
#ccssor until 1888 from that period TO tie pre-
senl, the gold of which the English coins have.
been made, has been invariably the NEW standard
" crown gold though some Of the coins made OF
the old standard previously 10 1893, continued To
=clrculntc I'LL 1872, when they wcrc=iorbidden 10
be any longer current The purity of The English
gold com is therefore present / pnrtS ot inc
gold and part of alloy.
The sovereign, % shilling piece, contains,
#ll200l grains fine gold, and 1924 grains
standard gold The pound Troy o.! standard gold
Il coined into &c 39-l29 sovcreignS, or into { 4G.
lAs. Sd. The mint standard price Of gold is
therefore sdlu 10 DC 90 ifs=Ud per pound II ROY,
q, 93. l7s-l0 l-2d. per OF.
The ALLOW il contains is rcckoncd of no value
1t is allowed, in orde. to the trouble and cx-
pcrse lfat would be incurred in refining the me-
tails SO as 10 bring them TO the highest degree of
purity, and because whcn its quantity is small it
has tendency 10 render the coins harder and less
liable to be Worn or rubbed
If the quantity of the ALLOW We're considerable,
1t would lessen the spcndor and ductilily of the
metals, and would add too much to the weight of
the coins.
The American halt ca. lie contains nc grains of
pure cold, and 1913 grain, Of standard, bv the law
OF 1884
The value Of all sorts Of property being estrna-
ted, and the stipulations in almost all contracts
for lis purchase, sale OF hire being made IN money
orscoI, IL is plain that change can take place
III the value OF such money coins. wthour viz
tualiy subvertng these estimates and contracts,
ind cnriching the debtor portion of society al the
expense of the credi, ricc yegSa, Asthe cost
OF producing ACCOMMODATES is liable tovary from
improvements i'll the arts, the exhaustion OF the
present, or the discovery OF new sources of sup
ply none can be selected 10 servca As money or
com. that may vary in it. real value.
-lti believed, however, ,hul the precious metals
vary less than any material that could be suggest
ed and with the exception OF the extraordinary
fall IN then value caused by the discovery o. The
American mines. il seems have been renlarku-
bly, constant other periods.
Ba, IN addition TO tie fluctuations naturally M
heYcit in the value al coins arising from val'ia-
mons IN tho cost of the metal OF which they
made Standard, has been repeatedly
elanged Notwithstanding that money OF com.
from beng universally used a Il scale by which
compute the value OF commodities. and rs tho
T., L., linn,
ged, !, i, BY tjn the most mporan, OF all the nea-
sure, used IN soci,sy; and should consequently be
pre>eScda> inyarinbc possible: thrfe Is noAe
thnt has been ~ freqHcatly altered
The necessities cNtyaya Sancc=o OF government.
i,,lvt, forced them 10 borrow; AND 10 relieve them
selves of the iucumbr;lncc> thus contracted. they
have almost universally had recourse TO the dis
graceful expc,icn; Of dcbnsins theircoi.l: tina; Is.
cheating those who lent them money. 10 then
,cut OF the csta,latiou and enabling every other
debtor in their dominions 10 do ,hc>amr.
The isnorauce Of The public in remote ages Ia
cated this species of fraud Had the names OF
The coins been changed when the quantity of me-
tnl contained in them diminished there would
have been no room tor misrepresentation. bn; al
though these co'''>were undergoing perpetual and
II Their purity occasional Reductions their ANCIENT
denominations We're almost uniformly prcScrved;
iti'i tc pi'!' Wi >'iW the same names >t!iI te
manning after the substance was diminished. vino
SAW com o. acert;,ii weight and fncneSs circu-
la:iug under, the OF orinS and hvrcS. dol
lars and pounds, and who them continue 10
circulate such after both the Weigh, and tie
degree ot their tin-ne>s had been lc>sc:lcd began
think they derived their value from the
starr affixed 10 thc!n by authority OF government,
than from the quantity OF the precious metal they
contained. 1,tis ,cos long a cery precaicat opin-
,on. But the rise of prices vilic invariably tol.
lowed every reduction OF he stondayd and the