Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-06-20
Coinage Laws of the United States.
NUMBER I.

FROM the St. Louis Journal OF Agriculture.
The financial question. especially the
free-silver coinage phase Of it, is now
the paramount issue in American poll
tics, and will continue to be till settled
right. The people, therefore, need all
the reliable information they can get
upon the subject. We propose there
fore, to write series of articles giving
the gist of the coinage legislation of
the United States from 1892 to 1894.
We request those of our readers who
cut out these articles and paste them
in scrap book, for study and refer
ence.
The first coinage act passed by the
Congress of the United States was
April 2, 1895. 1t provided for the es-
tablishment of United States mint to
be situated at the seat of Government.
1t provided that there should be ..from
time to time struck and coined at such
mint, coins of gold, sitUer and "copper""
The gold pieces were to be eagles, each
to be the value of ten dollars or units
and to contain 247 As grains of pure,
or 270 grains of standard gold-half
eagles and quarter eagles (No gold
dollar was authorized.); 'sdollars or
units-each to be of the value of a
Spanish milled dollar, as the same is
now current, and to contain 3714 grains
of pure, or All grains of standard sill
ver." Bear in mind the dollar, or unit,
was a silUer coin.
Section II of that law specifies the
ratio of gold to silver. It says, 1.-the
proportional value Of gold to silver in
all coins which shall by law be current
as money within the United States shall
be as fifteen 10 one. according to quanti-
ty in weight of pure gold or pure sill
yer; that is to say, every fifteen pounds
weight of pure silver shall be of equal
value in all payments, with one pound
weight of pure gold, and SO in proper
tion as to any greater or less quanti-
ties of the respective metals"
Section 2 provided that the standard
for all good coins of the United States
should be eleven parts pure gold, and
one part of alloy consisting of silver
and copper. Section 13 provided that
the standard of all silver coins of the
United States should be 1886 parts fine
to 179 parts of copper alloy.
Section IA, provided that it should
..be lawful for any person or persons
to bring to said mint gold and siluer
bullion, in order to their being coined;
and that the bullion so brought shall
be assayed and coined as speedily as
may be after the receipt thereof, and
that free OF expense to the person or
persons by whom the same shall have
been brought, and as soon as the said
bullion shall have been coined, the
person or persons by whom the same
shall have been delivered, shall upon
demand receive in lieu thereof coins of
the same species of bullion which shall |
have been delivered, weight for
weight, of the pure gold or silver there
in contained" Thus it is seen this |
law provided for the free and unlimi- |
ted coinage of both gold and silver. |
The law provided, however, that at |
the mutual option of the party bring
ing the bullion, and of the director of |
the mint, deduction of one-half of one |
per cent. for the weight of the pure |
gold or silver could he made, the same |
to constitute fund towards defraying |
the expense of the mint.
. Section 16 provided that 'saU the |
gold and silver coins which have been |
struck at, and issued from the said
mint, shall be lawful tender in all
whatsoever. No sex
ception clauses" about it.
SoCLlOu ~, the ldSL SGctlOO, PROVIDED
that the .smoney of account of the
United States shall be oppressed in dol
lars or units,' and in dimes. cents and
mills. AS the dollar or unit was sill
yer coin, it WILDE seen that the silver
dollar, dimes. cents and mills were the
money of account.
This was the first law ever enacted
by the United States congress in pur-
suance of Article /, Section 8, para
graph 5 of the constitution which says
that congress shall haye power ITO
coin money, regulate the value there
of, and of foreign coin, and fix the
standard of weights and measures.
Congress fixed the ratio then. without
asking the consent of other nations.
Summarizing, we see this first coin
age law provided: 1. For the estab-