The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-11-26
Our LEGAL TENDER SILVER.
The Kind and Character of United
states Money Before 1873.

rho first coinage law of the United States
was the act Of April >, 1892 1t provided
for the coinage of eagles, half eagles ami
quarter eagles of gold. and dollars. half
dollars. quarter dollars, dimes and half
dimes of silver, all Of these coins to be
Of full weight and the silver dollar the
1.nit Section l6 dec srcd that all the gold
and silver coins wAicn have been struck ut,
and issued from the said mint, shall be a
lawful tender in all payments whatsoever"
coiaages Of silver in this country up to 1918
we're mostly OF foreiCn metal, as the home
p5oduct was estimated during this period
at not more than 100000 while the gold
product was considerably more, but not up
TO the gold coinage, being less than $1,000.
coo.
After minting more or less of all these
coins up 10 1891 il was found from expert
.,lc,. that the half eagle was the favorite
gold coin and the half dollar the preferred
silver coin The coinage of the eagle was
st5pped and none was minted from 1904 h
ISIS and there were no quarter eagles coin
Ell from 1908 T. 1874 except a few in 1921.
There were no silver dollars coined from
1917 until 1898. except i'm 1879. On the other
fun legal tender were coined every year
M to 1855. except in 1915.
4 hurried calculation shows that up to
1871 when we began To have the first furry
of gold. full legal tender coinaSes were as
follows A1Oll, td1ltS FJ,oll AfUs man tdSittS.
So. 5000; quarter eagles, $l,S0.0S2; total,
So pol IA, full legal tender gold. Silver, dol
lars 81 23S $40; half dollars. $5S,396 Ill; quar-
ter dollars, s.3l6 075; dimes $3,123,210; half
dimes, 1928. PSI; total $iS372.2i7, full legal
tender silver. an excess of legal tender sill
yer coined up to this time QSiO Of over
hand, half eagles were coined every year
up to the present time. except 1916 and 1917.
and silver half dollars of full weight and
SIT. 000G 00. From this time forward the coin
age of gold exceeded the coinage of silver,
the excess of gold product from 1850 to 1873
being M.5H,SO0O00. ami from 1870 to 1892,
S1.37l. 21S 900.
The act of February p, 1853, reduced the
weight of the half dollar. quarter dollar.
dime and half dime. and made them
legal tender for five dollars only and since
that time none of these coins has been a
fun legal tender. From lSi7 to 1888 while
these coins were a fun legal tender, there
were coined Of half dollars Sl.29l ,4i0: quarter
collars $617 5G5, dmcs. $1,000; half dimes.
1917 to 1873 was 5,S13, 6GS. All these amounts
added to the full legal tender silver coined
before 1871 make the total $S3.f39,095, the
amount Of fun legal tender silver coined
There were no gold dollars authorized
until 1919 and they we're prohibited by act
of September &c, 1890 Their entire coinage
amounts to S9,i99,337.
There were more silver dollars coined in
1871 and 1872 than in any two previous years
and more i'm proportion in 1873 prior to the
demonetZing act of February 18th, than
ever before. Silver was just beginning to
come to the mint for coinage when II was
shut out.
From the formation Of ttf. government up
TO the act of February q, 1887. many for
eign gold and silver coins were full tender.
They were gold coins of Great Britain,
Portugal France and Spain and it's domn-
ions, and Spanish miled dollars and French
crowns by act of February 9. 1888 Februa-
nv l, 1913. April 10, 1896, French five-franc
pieces also by act of April %, 1916. continued
by acts March 3, 1919, 1921 and 1923. The
act of June %, 1884, extended full legal
tender quality TO silver dollars of Mexico,
Peru, Chile and Central America. The act
of June ~. 1854 extended the like privilege
to the gold coins Of Mexico and Colombia.
The act of March g. 1Si3. included Spanish
pillar dollars and silver dollars of Bolivia.
With all this foreign gold and silver money
i'm circulation before the war. IA full legal
tender and on perfectly equal terms with
all United States coined money, " Is abso-
lutely impossible TO determine the amount
of money i'm circulation at that time in
gross or per capita. All tables purporting
to give even approximate figures are neces
sarily misleading, as there is absolutely no
data 10 go by.