The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1896-09-04
A PLAIN STATEMENT,
What Is Meant by FREQ and Unlimited Coius
aae mt the Ratio of SIxteen tn Ono

| hhe - Hhcbhb W Eeo bnu OOhh
age at the Ratio of Sixteen Co Ono.
Not at all infrequently even yet tht
query department Of The Sunday New.
is called upon to explain what is meant
by FREQ and unlimited coinage at the ra.
ito of 10 to /.
Occasionally there is question which
betrays depth of ignorance most faith.
unless. The News has received one
and from a small town in Colorado al
that-which makes us believe that O
statement of the familiar facts will be
of value in some quarters. In effect Ii
is us follows:
"a. bets b. that 10 to means that the
mints shall coin 10 silver dollars for
every gold dollar they coin. b. bets that
it means there shall be 10 pats of pure
silver to part of alloy in each silver
dollar. Which wins?"
Neither Of these notions has anything
to do with the meaning of the express
sion "16 to l." 1t means that the
weight of pure gold in gold dollar
shall be 23. 22 grains and tho weight of
pure silver in silver dollar shall be
871.25 grains. Il will be seen that the
weight of silver in a silver dollar is
within q trifing fraction of 1G times
the weight Of gold in gold dollar, the
ratio being called for convenience 10
to 1.
The act Of 1837-for free and unlim.
tied coinage at this ratio-provided
that gold and silver bullion brought to
the mint should be received and coined
for the benefit of the depositor. The
coinage was free and unlimited. because
any person might bring any quantity OF
gold or silver bullion of the standard
degree of fneness to the mint and TO.
cei'e for it gold or silver coins. The
OILY charges permitted were for refin-
ing when the bullion was below stand.
ard, for toughening when metals were
contained in it which rendered it unfit
for coinage, for copper used for alloy
when introduced into the alloy for gold
and for separating gold and silver when
those metals exist together in the bull
lion. All of these charges relate to the
conversion of bullion into the exact
kind of bullion suitable for coirage.
BY the net of Feb. 81, 1853, the right
of individuals to have silver coined in
to half dollars, quarter dollars, dimes
and half dimes was taken away, tho
quantity of silver put into such coins
was reduced, their unlimited legal ten
der quality was reduced to a limit of
$5, and the government went into tho
making of them as business, which
xua xnrnAfohla . ko
tity of silver put into them. Tho silver
dollar was not mentioned in this act
The public retained the full right to
bring bullion to the mint and have it
coined into standard silver dollars, and
tho silver dollar retained its quality as
an unlimited legal tender, which il
holds to this day. This act Of Feb. 81,
1858, established mintage charge of
one-half of per cent ON all gold and
silver whether coined or run into ingota
ON account Of depositors, in addition to
the charge for refining or parting the
metals contained in the act of 1887.
Thus the matter stood until tho pas,
sage of the act Of Feb. 10, 1878, which
established the gold dollar as tho unit
of value and demonotized silver by
omitting the standard silver dollar from
the list Of coins Until that day any
person might bring standard silver bul.
lion 900 degrees fine to the mint and
tor each 871.25 grains of pure silver
therein obtain silver dollar, paying
only one-half per cent coinage charge.
If he brought puro silver 10 the mint
instead of standard bullion, nine-tenths
fine, he would have to pay cents an
ounce for the copper alloy. n 800 /
ounces OF pure silver We're deposited at
the mint, 1t would coin GAG dollars.
There would be 6b.b ounces of copper
for alloy, which would cost
81. IL. The ono-half per cent for coin
age would be 80. 28. which would make
the total charge at the mint 81. 34 on
846 dollars
Through ignorance or malice, tho |
statement is frequently made that un-
der FREQ coinage the owners of silver |
mines would sell their product to the |
government. Pictures arc drawn of the !
government vaults choked with silver !
which it would be unable to force into
This idea has probably
grown out Of tho acts Of 1873 and 1890.
both Of which provided not for free
,pinage, but for purchase by the United
States Of limited amount of silver
Zach month, the dollars coined there
rom or tho notes issued in payment
herefor not being legal tender when
otherwise specified in the contract I'm
ier free coinage the government would
lot purchase the silver coined into dol
ars. Itwould simply coin tho silver for
whoever brought it to the mint and
land the coin over to the person who
brought the silver. .-Denyer News
----~--- ------ N.
Let the goyernmsn. .ass lts heavy haDa