Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-02-10
OUR SILVER COINAGE.


OF the Coins.
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
The adjustment Of our silver coinage 50 % to
make the silver dollar equal in value to gold
dollar is the most important financial problem
which will be presented to the incoming admin
istration for solution. A standard silver dollar.
such - is now In circulation, weighs 412JS
grains, Of which S71L are pure silver and Az
copper. At the present rate Of silver bullion,
VIZ, "a cents per ounce Of 4s0 grains. the value
OF the silver in standard silver dollar il only
"a cents and 9ss mills the value of the copper
at IL cents per pound avoirdupois being too
small to be practically taken into account The
intrinsic value of the silver dollar has steadily
declined since 1879 when IL was slightly above
par or equal to S1.004. until toward the close Of
last year, when it reached its minimum value Of
"a cents and mills, and during the same inter-
val the commercial value of silver bullion
varied from s1.2929 (its par value) to about SO
cents per ounce. Solong gold is regarded as the
absolute standard of value the commercial
price Of all the inferior metals must necessarily
fiuctuate and the disparity between the pur-
chasing power of the gold and silver dollars
must continue. There is, however, one cir
cumstance which appears to have been over
looked in the discussion Of this subject and
that 10 that gold has sensibly appreciated dur
ing the last decade or two. A gold dollar will
purchase moro Of any commodity now than it
would fifteen or twenty years ago. The guam
tity Of gold obtained from the mines of late
years has not increased pari passu with the de-
mands Of commerce and the arts. The vast
reserves Of gold held by governments, banks
and private individuals have also sensibly
diminished the amount in actual circulation.
Tho metal has therefore become practi-
cally scsrcer, more valuable and possesses
more purchasing power than it had sew
eral years ago when the supply was
more nearly equal to the demand.
In order, then, to make the silver dollar equal
to the gold one it is absolutely necessary to in
crease the intrinsic value of the former. The
standard silver coin Of this country is composed
Of 30 per cent Of pure silver and 10 per cent Of
copper; that Of England 921S per cent silver
and ~ of copper; that of France the same as
our own, while some of the German silver
coins contain as much as 25 per cent of alloy.
The English shilling is then. intrinsically more
valuable than an equal weight of our silver
coins. Instead OF using copper as the alloy in
our silver coinage why not use q more valuable
metal such as nickel, aluminium or even gold
itself, or a combination of the last two? The
employment Of either nickel or aluminium would
not only increase the intrinsic value slightly,
but would also be a decided improvement
on our present coins, since they would
be harder. slightly lighter and would
permanently preserve their silvery luster. Our
present coins soon wear away and become dull
in color, owing to the oxidation of the "copper"
Nickel is worth about 70 cents per pound and
aluminium O.. so or thereabouts. and the en-
ployment Of 10 per cent Of the latter would add
about cents to the value of silver dollar and
would also slightly increase its size, but this
very slight increase in volume due to the low
specific gravity of aluminium would be little or
no inconvenience and would be more than
compensated for in the increased hardness,
durability and brlliancy While this country
does not produce much nickel we have an mex
haustible supply of material for the extraction
OF aluminium and the use of the latter
for this purpose would stimulate the
production of this valuable and useful
metal and would also encourage an industry
which is still in its infancy. The silver dollar
thus alleged would still be intriusically unequal
to the gold one; it would still be far below par,
yet this is one step at least in the right direc-
ton. III such advantage is gained by using
aluminium alone as an alloy whv not 90 a step
farther and employ both gold and aluminium
There can be no valid objection whatever to the
use OF these metals for this purpose. Some Of
the Australian gold coins are alleged with silver
instead Of copper. The use Of both gold and
aluminium as alloys in our silver coins would
not only be a decided advantage in every re-
Spect but would meet the case exactly the
former increasing the intrinsic value and the
latter the hardness luster and durability In this
way our silver coinage can be easily adjusted
to the gold standard. and it is by no means diff
cult to make a silver dollar, alleged with such
proportions of gold and aluminium, as would
give 1t the same weight and volume as the or
binary silver dollar. and which would be in
trinsically equal to the gold dollar and possess
the same purchasing power the world over
The intrinsic value of our silver coins must be
increased if we ever hope to solve this problem
satisfactorily. Neither the repeal of the Sher-
man bill nor the discontinuance of the free
coinage of silver will appreciably affect the
commercial value of the metal so long as the pres
ent supply holds out. No arbitrary legislation
Of this government or Of all the governments of
the world combined can convert silver into
gold or make GA cents purchase as much
Of any article as 100 cents can. As soon
as the silver dollar shall have been
brought up to par much of the gold now
locked up will pass into circulation, as the
necessity for boarding it up will in great
measure no longer exist and the "silver GER
tifcate" will also become thing OF the past
Gold, however, will always be the standard Of
value; the great difference between the values
of equal weights Of gold and silver will not per-
nit any other: it will also always be used for
transmission abroad In the payment of foreign
debts, silver being far too bulky and too in
convenient for that purpose, but the latter must
continue to be the chief medium of exchange
for domestic use in every country. because
there is not gold enough above ground to carry
on the vast and ever increasing commerce OF
the world JIM,
Washington D. c., Feb. 6, 1893.
The Graceland Cemetery,