New-York tribune., 1842-02-07
THE TRIB NE.
y Of the metals. sccm.

ZlCon;,;e, for The Tribune. mainly ro,n McCullocAs
Dictionary OF coinslcsecl
Go1.p. the most precious of the metals, seems
-, have been known from the earliest antiquity
/, is Of un orange red, OF reddish yellow colcr
and has pc.ccivablc taste or smell. 1t, lustrc
is considerable, yielding only to platinum. steel.
-iiycr and mercury 1t il rather softer than sill
vcr-i,s specific gravity is l9.G.ZNo other sub
stance is equal to it il ductility ,nd malleabiity
1t may be beaten ou, Into leaves ,llin that
gram wi! cover Sc 3-4 squire .cles. These
leaves are only one 232 .003 of an i;ich thick. But
the gold leaf witt. which silver wire is covered,
has ouv LIP Of tia, thickness. An ounce of
gold upon silver IS capable of being extended
more than 300 miles III leng,h.Zl,> t'acity5s
considerable. though in this respect ii Yields to
IRON, copper, platinum and silver.
From the experiments of Scckngcn,zi i, appears
tlla; t, gold wire 0.07& inch in diu.ncrc" cala-
lie Of supporting a weigh, Of 5000 lbs. 4voir-
,lupos wi,ilou, breaking. 1t nclts at >, degrees
Of Wcdywood> pylomc,cr When melted it ;,-
srrncs brgh, blush green color 1t expands in
=, the act Of t,sior and consequently contracts rlil
becoming solid, more i;ul rrostmctus circum-
stance which renders j, les proper folcusting into
moulds.
SILVER /, a metal oi.a white color without Ell
tcl taste smell, being i'll point Of brliancy
i inferior to mono of the metallic bodies, if we cx-
ccp, polished steel Its softer than copper, but
harder than gold Whon nrtcd, its specific IRA
vity is 0.I74: Wien hammered. l0.5l. in ma
Liability ii is inferior To none Of tho metals. if wc
except gold |, may be beaten into leaves onl l.
1905 900 of an inch thick lis ducliIity is equally
rernarkabc. 1t may be drawn into wrs much finer
than IA human hair: so fine indeed that y single
grain of silver NAV be extended about 400 fee, in
length.
Its ,cnacity is such, that wire Of silver 0078
inch in diameter is capable of supporting weight
Of l87 Is lbs avordun,is wtllou, breaking -
Silver is easily aoycd with copper by fusion
The compound is harder and more sonorous than
silver, and retains its white color even when the
proportion of copper exceeds one half The
hardness is at a maximum When the copper
or sterling silver of Britain Of which coin is
Nude is composed Of i! l-3 parts silver, and one
copper. Its specific gravity is lU.2. The specific
gravity Of the Paris Standard silver, composed of
l37sparts OF silver md 7 copper, is 0.l75. The
French silver coin during the old government
not nearly fine. being composed of 2Gl parts
silver and y "copper" or 2-;S parts silver. l"
copper ih,. silver coin of the Anccnts was nearly
pure, and appears not to have been mixed with
ALLOW.
When the precious metals first began be used
as money. on as standards bv which to measure
the value of different articles, and the equivalents
for which they were most commonly exchanged.
they were III M unfushioncd satc-in bars and
ingotS. The parties having agreed upon the quan-
tity of meta! To be given for commodity, the cN-
act amount WAS then asccrtuincd by wcig ght. But
ii is Obvious that practice of this sort must have
been attended with great deal OF trouble and in-
convenience. There can however be but little
doubt that the greatest obstacle to tho OF UNI
fashioned metals Us Inellcv would be found in the
difficulty of determining their quantity, or the de-
gree of purity. with sufficient precision | nc oi,-
.craticn of aSsaying is o great nicely and dit
icutv. and could not bc performed III the early
ages otherwise than i'll clumsy, tedious aud iiuc-
curatc manner. 1t is indeed most probable, that
when The precious metals were first used money.
their quality would bc appreciated only by their
weight and color. Avery short experience would.
however be sufficient 10 show the extreme ncNact-
ness of conclusions derived from suchloo>c and
unsatisfactory critcria; and the dcvlSns necessity
of some method hv which the iincncsS ol the me-
tai might be easily and correctly asccrtained-
Sucl, a method was no, long in prosecuting it
self: it was early discovered that To ascertain
the purity of metal and to avoid the trouble and
&
than 10 mark each pecu with stamp declaring
lis weight and tncncs>.Z This invention was made
at a very early period.
According TO llcrcdotus the INDIANS were the
first who coined money Other ancient authors
say tha, the art oi coming invented during
the period when Saturn and Janus rrcncd in lta-
lv--ha. it is in a period antcccdrnt 10 authentic
history.
Before the ar, ;aurSy we'll understood,
= the b.Ser metals wcrc frequently used rs money
lrcn was the primitive money OF the Luodlccas,
and copper of the Romans both iron and
coppcr dc,croruc bv being kept. and besides
tn, defect the rapid Improvement in the arts by
lowering their price rendered their bulk too great
in proportion their value 10 permit et then, CON
.tinuins TO hc used as money. Copper, indeed,
Is still used IN the form of tokens. convcrtblc INTO
silver III Very small payments
ln England copper pence and halt pence arc
rated AT - per cent. above their real value; bu,
u. their issue Is exclusively in the hands of the
Government. and Is they are only legal tender 10
tie amount OF enc sfHiia-, in any one payment.
tins ovcr.valuatiou is productive OF any bad
effect. The use OF copper III other countries is
limited much III tho same WAY: GOLD amt sire,
beng crcry chere the oaly metals made use OF
In the manufacture Of the Gains used IN co,sler,.-
bic payments.
Bv the standnyd OF coin. is meant the degree OF
,,,r;,,, nnI ~. Tint fl,., tnannss OF