Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1895-03-29
HISTORY OF PRECIOUS
METALS.

1
Any one examining the earl,
writings concerning the precious
metals has need OF patience, henc'
it may well be mentioned that tht
author of the book OF job, whC
lived perhaps before Abraham
says, "surely there is vein fol
silver and place for gold where
they fine it," and he further adds
that "the earth has dust of gold
But at the end of that beautiful
poem, Jobs wealth, then restored
to him, is computed in cattle and
not in money, silver seeming
among the people of his time to
have passed from one to another
| by weight, as money, whilst gold
WAS treated like sapphires, rubies
and other geme. and we receive no
intimation that it was used II
money.
We read also IN the sacred writ
ings of Abraham, who lived about
1000 B. c., that "he WAS rich in
cattle, in silver and in gold;" and
since he had also focks and herds,
camels and asses as well as slaves,
it ID plain he must have emerged
from barbarism and become op-
ulent. Therefore we are not sur
prised that the payment for his
wife's burial place was made with
four hundred shekils OF silver. de-
livered not in coin bat "by weight
according to the currency of the
merchant.
His son Isaac, practiced agri.
culture-an advance in civilization
and his grandfather Jacob, he'd
sufficient accumulation OF the
precious metals to admit In time
of famine of sending his sons to
Egypt to buy corn with "silyer in
their sacks mouths" IN which
couptry his great grandson, Jo-
seph, who had been sold by his
brethren for twenty pieces OF sill
yer, presented his youngest and
favorite brother with three hun
dred pieces of silver.
OF period one thousand years
later we read statements in the
sacred writings of the precious
metals used in Solomon's roysl
palace and in the holy temple he
erected. We read that "he over
laid the house within with pure
gold, and made a partition by the
chains of gold before the oracle,
and he overlaid the oracle with
gold; and the whole house was
overlaid with gold till he had fur
nished the whole; also the whole
altar that was by the oracle he
overlaid with gold" Now as no
suggestions occur in the sacred
writings as to the whole quantities
of the precious metals which had
been accumulated in patriarchAl
days, we must be content with the
oldest account we have OF any
large accumulation of gold and
silver, which is that thus given us
Of the amount used by oae of the
earliest kings of the Hebrews In
his ornamentation OF the royal and
sacerdotal ediiices. Solomon Is
also stated to have collected in a
eingle year gold to the amount of
SIS, BOO, 900 IN our money; and
that with which he covered the |
temple has been estimated AS over
81 100000 in value. We also
read that none of his drinking yes.
sells were of silver "for that metal
was nothing accounted of in the
days of Solomon" ln short, "lhe
king made silver to be as stones IN
Jerusalem which is doubtless
a great exaggerat:ou.
1t should not be forgotten, that.
before gold and silver were used as
coin, it was deemed exclusively
royal or priestly privilege to
possess them, and hence palaces
and temples we're their natural re-
pasitories Moreover, when Sol
amon's peaceful reign began, the
accumulation OF the precious
metals possessed by. his nation
must have been the collection Of