The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-05-20
A NEW IDEA IN COINAGE.
Neither the silver Nor the Gold Stand
ard. but Union OF lotb.

Exchange.
That universal monetary standard,
arrived at by International agreement.
would be an immense boon TO tho com
msruial world. In a matter which does
not admit Of argument Tho diniculty
arises with tho question. What shall
that standard bef' Cold" cries the
gold hug. us soon as the question is put.
'sllvorr ahrieks the silver crank. "a
union OF both metals at a nxod ratloi'
yelln the bimetAlllst sharp And no the
ciscord goes on and harmony seems i'm.
possible.
Hut now arises fourth party with a
new Idea. which he thinks will meet
the acauiesecnco OF all thoughtful men.
II IL a species OF bimetnllism In the sense
ttet Il admits tho use OF both metals.
Hut Il has mono Of the dangers OF a
double standard. which must result from
any attempt TO ix arbitrarily the rcla-
tive value OF two metals whose relations
10 each other are ruled only by the ever
shifting law OF demand and supply.
Mr.. Emil Greet. an American citizen,
born In Germany. but who has resided IN
this country since 1890. and IL al present
the senior member OF large nrm whose
Interests arc on both sides OF the At
lantic. II the originator OF this new idea.
Briefly put. he believes that the union
OF gold and silver In n single coin in
donnlte. unyaryinE proportion OF weight
and measure would solve the problem OF
common money standard or measure
OF value This coin coudl be used as a
universal legal tender. with which ali
international debts could be liquidated
Mr. Orceff believes that all these excel
lent results could bo achieved by an alloy
| containing one part gold TO four parts
silver. The universal legal tender unit
would be a coin containing one-hfth OF
an ounce OF gold and four-nfths Of an
ounce OF silver. This coin he calls
tentatively talent, The hundred null
,iple thereof he calls great talent
one ounce OF pure gold In worth about
tso.01. or one-ffth part OF Il very nearly
NN The present market value OF one
ounce OF pure silver Is about g. cents. or
four-fifths OF an ounce little over Is
cents. making a total OF N.65 as the pres
ont market value OF talent
He points out that In the talent we
would have a unit that would always
retain It's gold value OF tiii. even should
the value OF silver totally disappear
which. however. IL not very likely. The
legal tender qualification alone would
certainly increase the value OF the silver
contained In H. II. on the other hand.
silver should rise TO Its former value OF
10 to /. the talent may increase In COM
merciai worth to about ,5.iT. It is APP
parent that talent. therefore. comes
very near in value to-
one American half eagle. as
against N6i; approximate differ
ence....,,.. .,..,.,..., ,,.,,",..,..,iN y, c.
One pound sterling. $3.50 as
against Asi; approximate differ
cncc..s.,.., ..,..,,.... ........,,....b u. c.
Twenty-Five francs. Sass, as
against 3Ls7; approximate differ
cnce..,,,. ,...,........ .,,,,..,......,SN p, c,
Twenty marks, sLS0 ms against
N.61; approximate difference. .. -. y. c.
one-flfth OF n talent would. at the cur
rent value OF gold and silver. be worth
In our money nlnety-three and two-flfths
cents. A coin could be struck to repre-
sent one-hfth OF talent. This would
be used as the future trade dollar. II
would be analogous to shilllngs In Eng
lish money, four marks In German
money. or fivo francs In French money.
In order TO see exactly how n coin
made OF the proposed alloy would look,
Mr., Greeff employed jeweler TO make a
one talent coin and n NTH OF a talent
coin. The first Is tribe smaller than
the silver dollar. the other exactly the
size OF n silver quarter The weight Is
respectively one ounce and one-fifth OF
an ounce, The trifllng surplus is cop
per- to give the coin better ring. Both
coins have hemispheres engraved on
either side. the diverse bearing the in
scription, "Argentum Unlversale. 1896"
the reverse UNITED States OF America"
and zone Talent" and "one-nfth OF a
Talent" respectively.