Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1854-02-24
THE CURRENCY.

WEDNESDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY %@'
THE CURRENCY
The Director of the u S. Min, ct Philadelphia he's sub.
med an Interesting report the operations oil tha' eStao
lshmenI. NappeaIs that The coinage Including gold bars
executed Mint, n Philadelphia In 1853 has amount
ed 10 s60lll249 72 of which S3G 1856 62l were In gold
colne sl5s35 907 81 In refined gold ta's s65zoi
In silver coin, and SGT O59 7s In copper coins
The total coinage Of the mint aud all tsbanches ior Tue
year 1853, oi!ows:-God. sos 23 quo VII s'ef'
S9G77 57l; coppsr SGT ,059 49, Total SG4 s5Sj37 IT,
The entire coinage al the several mine, from 'ho ue
they commenced operations amounted TO S33l w z9s.
The Director Of The Mint says that he dlnnulion oil Inc
standard weight OF the half dollar aud lower tenomlnaons
OF silver coins authorised by tho of March 553 hns
been attended with good results Under Ito operations VIC
have had large supply of silver bullion aud tho silver coin
age OF the new Issue has reached tho o Ssos4
which Is larger amount than struck during lie Ve
years preceding Several millions Of oliver coins Dave 'nua
been added to the curency and the circulation OF s'na
could be excluded render the supply nccessa
ry In short time the coin would be in general use IN
every par, county The appreciation of silver rer.
dered This alteration necessary The sver coins o the tot
mer standard sssd tho of l6 all cents per
ounce The average price of silver OF like aeness at Lon
don and Paris for several months past has been III cents
per ounce.
"Thc thee.dolar gold coln authorized b. the last Con-
gess will be ssued soon ns the dies now n progress are
completed From The close approximation IN "eiRn aha
value which this coin will have the quarter eagle II has
been deemed exedent make the devices upon it different
from any coin heretofore asued The device adopted for the
orsrse 4. an Ideal head embenatc Of America enclosed
within the national legend will present wreath
Indicating The prominent productions oil our SOIL and
enclosing The denomination and date OF tho con"
The following remarks the relative values OF gold
and silver a dercn, periods highly interesting and I'M
portanE
The disturbance of the relative Of gold and silver
and consequent effects upon naona and International
upun coinage and upon prcunary Contracts IS
very large inquiry equeGY under discussion 10 CONNER
cal clrces, In the public prints and In ha lis of egaon
barely alude Tie subject Without entering upon IT, 'lher
Uifer two practical suggestions ACCORDING 10
well considered estimates, the production OF Tho gold and
silver mines OF The world al the commencement oi tue pre-
taking into account those countries o
Asia which nearly shut GU! from me intercourse OF ma
in The proportion of one ounce OF gold 10 oriy
Of silver Immediately before the opening ol Ca
oroia had probably changed ounce OF gold against
scvtEtee OF silver An average OF the productions
of years 1852 and 1883 upon the same broad SCALE ap
give result Of OF gold 10 less ihan Jour
OF silver And YET from the rs. OF these periods 10
last there has been great divergence In The bullion
market from the relative proportion OF one ounce OF gold
sixteen Of ager Surely this striking TACT ought
TO aay feeling OF alarm often experienced as TO the
abundant production Of metal and M diminished supply
of The Otner. There s, In ac happY dccoWnod atloR
In Tho commercial world 10 these varying reiatoos.-
When gold scarce silver was the great metallic oasls
and former metal was rather used adnvant special
adapted Of the wants OF trade But since gold
has become plenty silver comparatively scarce the
yeaher of the world have laken gold their pre-
vailing currency making silver only subsidiary one just
os copper s tu silver. Now, the purpose OF "makinR
&c" does require very large stock oil metal IN
with s ocssed m and
we ha We The very remarkable almost cngmauca sequence
that silver Is valued because It is less produced he
very adoption of small gold coins such us our an
lar and even tho half that, If 1t practicable
would still further throw silver out of usc and consequently
keep It's value Large Quantities oil II will Away oe
needad for plate and work; but In his
the growing of eectropated ware IN England and IN
our country 10 sure TO have counersclng effect Ano
Il will be interesting that the greatly diminished
cost of mercury which indispensable agent In The pro.
ductlon Of silver certain have large effect in ncreas
ing that production The monopoly OF mercury by which
s orice was advanced hundred per CENT and
ouenty tn. mining of silver geuy impeted has been dis.
perd by opening Of The rich cRpaoar minss OF Csor
ala and the price ecrdei 10 the old quotatlon Silver
mines hu have been abandoned from this Cause DO 70.
opened and greater activity may be expected In those
which have been kept constantly 10 operation But while
the commercial eociu accommodation before epUken OIL
and the probable In the production of silver ust
,ced may be relied upon 10 prevent any such violent rrcg
uaes would be denoted by balancing seventeen ounces
of silver at one time. md anuer time only four ounces
against Of gold yet there will constantly be va
ryiug per ccntsge of huctuatoD and this will sometimes
be 30 great compel legal modification OF o,andards
and consequent recouagc at the mint, And although our
standard Of silver has so lately been changed to suit the
ke there Is 10 fear that lhs reduction OF weight
was not sufficient and that another recolnass al no distant
dav NAV become necessary This, however Is part OF
the use for which national mint Is ma;nluncd and for
which II ehoud always be In readiness
Here have the ofica declaration Of one, we'll qualified
by position and experience understand thoroughly the
operations Of the currency het ! the circulation of small
notes could be excluded render The supply neces'
say in short time The new (silve) coin would be 10 gen.
era use u every part OF our country" We have also the
~ IN
is no necessity for the Issuing Of small by State
Banks as there Is sufficient small coin for The wants Of The
community Indeed, we feel we'll assured, that, If the p
vilege Of issuing small notes granted to our owp
Banke they would no, avail themeeives OF il. STILL hea
every dow that the only remedy for the evil under which
sucr Is the legalizlliop Of small BY Banks
an eYpedent which Ia In operation in Kentucky, and
which has not only failed DO good but hus served 10 n.
crease the evil by augmenting the circulation OF the vile
brood OF foreign bank notes. few days since We heard
ono Of our most Inesen, citizens say that he had ust re-
turned from Welt 10 Europe end having travelled excn
sively over The continent Of Europe, and through oul
own Northern citics Richmond the ocly place
where he encountered this wreiched pest Of shin.
plasers. On the same occasions, ono o! Ou: cnlight
eued State judges declared that he positively refused
to take small all OCCASION Even should the General
Assembly fall TO rigid laws agaIna, the crcua
In MARYLAND elsewheresome check may be given 10
the dissemination Of the trash by the refusal Of all good c
zcns TO receive them. AT tho present moeE: when eny
amount OF small coin tu obtained from tho An; al
small charge have already e1p!a!asd-and when VT
believe that Banks would not accsp, the privilege CT s
suing small notes. although that device would 10 our oPn
ion only increase the eyiIand with he example of ohs
States before u.s. the smallest pIctrx, for lh
necessity of shinpastes falsely argued by the at7o
cafes Of small notes.
GOOD MAN GOMEZ
We wots paned hear yesterday, by telegraph from
Lynchburg that Whllmel p Tunstal Esq, Presiden. o
the Richmond aud Danvils Rail Road died DsnYe OF
Sunday last. He attacked by pGsumcna and his de
] lo. nrran q