The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1895-01-04
Deprecated Silver, and What
\ II Means.

One of the effects of the use of de-
preciated silver dollars for money is
that they can be counterfeited in pure
metal as good as the genuine, and the
counterfeiter will make large profit
equal to so per cent. There is no hon.
est business that will pay such re
turns.
Yesterday fine silver was worth In
London 2715 pence, or SIS cents an
ounce. An ounce of silver contains
I4SO grains. A. standard silver dollar
contains 37lA grains of pure silver.
Thus it will be seen that while 4sO
grains of pure silver can be bought in
the market for SIS cents. 3714 grains
coined into a dollar will pass any
where in the Omitted States for 100
cents.
Thus It will be seen that at this rate
/ a dollar containing 37l4 grains of sill
yer is worth intrinsicaliy 1853 cents,
or little more than AN cents. When
42a cents worth of silver can, by fix
ing o.. it certain stamp. be made TO
pass for 100 cents, it is matter for
wonder that the couuterteiters have
not jumped at the chance TO coin sill
yer dollars of the proper size, fneness
and weight, and make q gross profit of
57.57 cents on each dollar. Allowing
TAT cents for the cost OF making each
coin, the counterfeits could make
net profit OF SO cents on every dollar.
! Heretofore the counterfeiters have
been accustomed to use some compost.
tion Of base metals for their work, but
now they have an opportunity to make
their coins 80 perfect as to quality and
J weight that not even at the mint could
! they be separated from the genuine by
essay or any other test Probably the
| idea of being able TO make counterfeit
coins as good as the genuine ut
a large profit is too startling and stu
pendous for the operators to take it IN,
/, but the opportunity offered is so attrac-
/ tive that it would seem impossible that
it could be long overlooked by enter
prising rascals.
! If the Government were not bound,
4 in order to insure the parity of the sill
! yer and gold collars, to make the for
mer good in gold, Uncle Sam could go
!, into the business of making 4215 cent
dollars and paying them out for 100
cents Unfortunately, when he stamps
dollar, he must make IL a dollar as
i good as gold. and, therefore, he is cut
off from the large profit that is posi-
BILE to the counterfeiters. But 1t free
coinage Of silver were permitted, the
holders of bullion would be able to
| enjoy legally the same opportunity for
big profits offered IT, the counterfeit
ers, and Uncle Sam would be bound to
guarantee all their dollars.
1t can be seen that If any person
| could, as he can, go into the market
and buy silver ut So cents an ounce,
and have, as it is not now possible, that
silver coined at the mint at the stand
ard rate of 129. cents an ounce. he
would make a profit OF 74cents to each
ounce. In order for dollar of 371A
grains of silver to be worth 100 cents,
it would be necessary for an ounce of
silver to be worth'129 cents, and that
is the rate at which silver dollars are
held in comparison with gold. An
ounce of gold is worth, by the mint
standard, twenty dollars and sixty |
seven cents and one and eight-tenths
mills, which written in figures is |
$40 e7is. Since the ratio Of the two |
metals is 16 of silver to l of gold, an
ounce to silver ought to be worth |
81. 1929, which is the standard ON which |
the silver dollar is estimated.
But it so happens that an ounce of
silver, instead of being worth 129 cents.
is only worth So; and since the Gov
ernment is forced to guarantee all the
money IL stamps, it follows that the
Government is liable through free coin
age of silver to lose "a cents on every
ounce of the white metal 1t should
coin for private account.
The free coinage of silver means
that the Government must guarantee
every silver dollar, which is worth less
than SO cents, to be worth 100, and the
persons who owns the silver gets the
profit. 1t means that the seigniorage,
which is the difference between the
price of the metal in the open market
and the face value of the money into
which it is coined, is to go to the own
er of the bullion, and not to the mint.
In the case OF gold the opposite is
true; while gold bullion is always
rated at it's value in perfect purity.
gold coin is always alloyed, and the
mint makes the difference. american
gold coin is alloyed 10 per cent, and in
giving an ounce o. coin for an ounce
of pure gold, the mint makes a
of 10 per cent.
The result, then, of free coinage of
silver would be to allow any person to
take to the mint SlO0 worth of silver
and get in exchange for it silver dol .
lars which would stand for more than ,
5000 iu the ordinary business of the
while it would enable him to
nav. with SiOO worth of silver, 5000 9
worth of debt, which would mean n I
of half the existing in
Under such circumstances, the Gov
ernment would fiually arrive at the ,
point where IL could no longer main 7
tain a parity of value between the two !