The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-08-04

law after circulation of twenty years,
as shown by Its date of coinage, and at
ratable proportion for any period less
than twenty years. shall be received at
their nominal value by the United States
Treasury and its offices, under such reg
ulations as the Secretary of the Treasury
may prescribe for the protection of the
government against fraudulent abrasion
or other practioes and any gold coins in
the Treasury of the United States re-
duced il weight below this limit of abra-
sion shall be reeoined
$50. 10. Vbat the silver coins of the
United States shall be trade dollar, a
half dollar, or 500 piece; quarter dollar
or 25c piece. dime CT 1Go piece; and the
weight Of the Srade dollar shall be 420
grains troy; the weight of the half dol
lar she'll be 1919 grains; the quartsr dol
lar and tho dime shall be respectively
One-half and one-flfhh of the weight of
said half dollar; and said ooins shall be
q legal tender ut their nominal value
Tor any amount not exceeding IS in any
one payment.
Sec 16. That the minor coins of the
United States shall be q 30 piece, 30
place and q 1c piece, and the alloy for
the 90 and 80 pieces shal1 be Of copper
and nickel to be composed Of three
fourths copper and one-fourth nickel,
and the alloy Of the 10 piece shall he 90
per censum of tin and zinc, in such pro-
portion as shall be determined by the
Director of the Mint. The weight of the
piece of 90 shall be n. Is grains troy; of
the 80 piece, 4S grains, which coins shall
be legal tender at their nominal value
for any amount not exceeding $50 in any
ono payment.
Sec. II. That no coins, ei1her Of gold,
silver, or minor coinage, shall hereafter
be issued from the mint other than those
n ms Et1 1dErd nd
weights herain set forth.
(Ihe standard silver dollar was omit
ted from the list given in section IS
j WINS claimed that this was done by
fraud. This was the so-called crime of
1873.
SEQ. 81. That any owner of silver bull
lion may deposit the same at any mint,
to be formed into bars OF into dollars of
the weight of 420 grains, troy, desig-
mated in this act as trade dollars; and no
deposit OF silver for other coinage shall
be received but silver bullion contained
in gold deposits and separated there
from, may be paid for i'm silver coin, at
such valuation rs may be, from time to
time, established by the Director of the
Mint.
Sec. 25 That the charge for convert
ing standard gold bullion into coin shall
he one-ffth of l per centum; and the
charges for converting standard silver
into trade dollars, for melting and retln-
ing when bullion is below standard, for
| toughening when metals are contained
in it which render it unfit for coinage
for copper used for alloy when the bull
lion is above standard, for separating
the gold and silver when these metals
exist together in the bullion, and for the
preparation of bars, shall be fixed from
time to time by the Director, with the
concurrence of the Secretary of the Treas
ury, so It's to equal but not exceed. in
their Judgment, the actual average cost
to each mint and assay Office of the ma
terial, labor, wastage and use of ma
chinery employed in each of the cases
aforementioned.