Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1891-07-15
ly of foreign mintage, the recognized
standard being the Spanish milled dol

ly of foreign mintage, the recognized
standard being the Spanish milled dol
| lar.
By the constitution the right ito coin
money, regulate the value thereof, and
of foreign coin" is given to the general
government, and the states are prohib-
tied from making anything but gold
and silver coin tender in payment of
debts.'
The first law relating to coinage un-
der the new constitution, was the act
of April 2, 1892, establishing a mint
This act provided for striking cold
coins, called eagles, leach to be of the
value of ten dollars, or units -
The weight of the eagle, by this act,
was made 24719 grains of pure gold, or
"a. rs grains to the dollar. This act also
provided for coming dollars, or units,
each to be of the value of a Spanish
milled dollar, as the same is now cur
rent"
Hamilton, the first secretary of the
treasury, had a number of the old
Spanish milled dollars, as then In cir
culation, assayed, and they were found
to contain 371K grains of pure silver,
and therefore the new dollar was made
to contain 371A grains of pure silver,
so that the money unit of the colonies,
as at that time in circulation, was con-
tinued as the money unit under the
new constitution
The first gold coins were 11-12ths fine
The full weight of the eagle was 247 so
grains pure gold and %. so grains of al
10y, making the total weight of the
eagle 270 grains. The silver dollar con-
tained S71.25 grains of pure silver and
44.76 grains of alloy, making the full
weight of the dollar 416 grains.
The act of 1892 also provided for half
dollars, quarter dollars and dimes of
silver, weighing, respectively, one-half,
one-fourth and one-tenth the weight of
the dollar
As gold coins contained 2475 grains
of pure metal to the dollar and the sill
yer dollar contained S71.25 grains, the
ratio at this time was exactly IS to1
The same act which established the
mint and fixed the weight and fineness
of the coins of the United States also
provided that any person might take
either silver or gold to the mint and
have it coined ''free of expense" and
the said coins were made equally legal
tender for all debts, public and private.
By this act fractional coins were also
full legal tender.
Thus, the first coinage law enacted
under the constitution, as recommended
by Hamilton, concurred in by jefferson,
and approved by Washington, provided
for the free and unlimited coinage of
both gold and silver
Subsequent acts fixed the rates at
which foreign gold and silver coins
should be legal tender in this
country, and various coins, including
the Spanish milled dollar, continued to
be legal tender until 1852.
In 1884 the weight of the gold eagle,
or ten-dollar piece, was changed from
247. so grains of pure gold, or 27O grains
OF standard gold, to 232 grains of pure
gold, or 23.2 grains to the dollar, or 25s
grains of standard gold, or c5.s grains
to the dollar.
The pure metal in the eagle was
therefore reduced 155& grains, or 1.55
grains to the dollar. This new piece,
however, was made legal tender for all
debts, past and future, the same as the
old one. No change was at this time
made in the silver coins.
BY this change in the gold coins the
ratio was changed from Is to 1 to 16
to 1.
In 1887 (January 1S) the mint laws
were revised throughout, and the stand
ard for both gold and silver was made
nine-tenths fne-that is, nine parts
pure metal and one part alloy. And
since 1887 all our coins of both metals
have been nine-tenths fine.
The pure metal in the gold coins was
again slightly changed by the act of
1887, by adding .O2 of grain, so as to
make it exactly nine-tenths fine.
By the act of 1887 the alloy in the sill
yer dollar was reduced from A. rs grains
to ALAS grains, so as to make the dollar
just nine-tenths fine, but the weight of
pure silver was not changed and its
value was therefore not changed.
Thus, while the weight of pure gold
in the gold dollar has been twice
changed, the weight of pure silver In
the standard silver dollar has never
changed; it is exactly the same unit
and the same standard as the first coin
minted in the United States. Lake
Journal of Commerce.