Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1894-05-24
The FIuotuation OF silvsr,
From Harper's Weekly

keseph, or the white metal, as II was
called by the Hebrews, has known end
less fluctuations, yet has never ceased its
vain rivalry with gold. Solomon was
the first apparently to discredit 1t, and
when silver grew so abundant In the
Holy City that it was almost as plenti-
full rs the stones of its streets, he very
naturally refused to receive 1t as curren-
cy. He would take nothing but gold,
we are told by Josephus, for his mer-
chandise, but paid away his deprecated
silver to Egyptian traders for chariot
and pair of horses. On this he rode
out in state in the morning to his coun-
try-seat at Ethan, a paradise of rivulets
and gardens. Nothing could be bought
or sold at Jerusalem for silver, says the
historian, and only gold was valued.
The Greeks, when they first visited
Spain, made their anchors and common
utensils of silver. The white metal lost
its value. But this could not continue
long, for the richest silver mines at last
grew unproductive, and In the seventh
century c. the metal had once more
risen to a higher price. 1t could once
again compete with gold, at least at a
distance. The first form of money was
in stamped bars or ingots, with the
weight certified by an official seal. The
earliest known lngots were of gold. But
about 700 b. c. MIR. Head tells US money
was first coined, and in the British Mu-
scum may be seen a Babylonian slater
of electrum, mingling of gold and sill
yer, apparently the oldest coin in exist
ence. Silver was for time the common
currency of the Greeks, but at last they
adapted gold standard. The fine gold
pieces of Philip and Alexander have be-
come the models of all later coinage
AT Rome the earliest money was of
bronze, then silver came in as the stand
ard and when it grew too abundant, the
Roman emperors borrowed the gold COIN
age of the east. The Roman solidus was
worth, in gold, sovereign or a half
eagle. But nowhere did silver money
fiuctnate more widely than at Rome; in
the Hannibalic wars the currency was
constantly bebased; in moments of dan
ger money was boarded. But the VIC
tories of Caesar and his general robbery
made it so plentiful at Rome that land
doubled or trebled in price and money
sank in value. Under Augustus, in the
quiet of peace, it is probable that silver
was worth about one-tenth its weight in
gold. With the decay of the empire a
debased currency filled the world with
disaster. and aided in the gem raj de-
struction of commerce Sd h- arts.
Silver in the Middle A s"s rose in value
with rarity, and was at tc'es almost on
an equality with gold. Ia Richard the
Firsts time in England four shillings
would buy COW, bull, or horse for
ploughing, and tenpence a sheep with
fine wool. Yet again, with the conquest
of Mexico and Peru, money fell, prices
of labor and land increased: but the
rapid growth of trade and commerce at
the same period revived the demand for
an honest currency. Silver and gold
moved on together, and kept up GER
tain ratio to each other that was never
greatly disturbed. 1t is only recently
that the immense yield of our Western
mines has nearly equalled that of an
Gent Spain when silver sank into dis
credit. But it will no doubt soon re-
vive again. 1t cannot take the place of
gold in the opinion of mankind--the
source of value. But it will always hold
a subsidiary position that no other metal
can fill.