Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-11-15
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Birthday Of silver nollar.


Oct. 10 was the anniversary of the
silver dollars birthday. The silver dol
lar as a national piece of money, mint
ed by Uncle Sans Congress, Is close to
hundred and five years of age.
1t was on Oct. 10, 1904, that the first
few hundred silver dollar pieces ever
coined at the Philadelphia mint We're
sent out into the world to help transact
its business.
Not Mt all bad-looking coins were the
first of the United States silver dollars;
they were almost as handsome as any
that have ever been put out by this
Government, and that is saying good
deal, for American coins have gener-
ally ranked among the most goodly to
look upon of any in the world. The dol
lar of 1904, however, would look
strange to modern eyes. In the first
place the value of the piece was not
shown upon either the diverse or the
reverse of the coin, but stamped in fine
letters on Its edge were the words,
Hundred cents. one dollar or unit"
On the diverse was a liberty head, fac
| AA5 A'ShS WIN LOMihS over luG
head was the word Liberty" beneath,
In the usual place. was the date 1884"
and to the right and left We're the stars,
hfteen In number, typical of the num-
Der of States in the then young Union.
ON the reverse was spread eagle
surrounded by laurel wreaths, crossed,
and the words, United States Of Amer
| Lon " 10 oil 80
sandths fineness and the weight 416
grains.
The dollar of to-day weighs 412
grains and is 900 thousandths fine. The
ratio between United States gold and
silver coinage was us 10 to in 1894,
now 1t is as 16 to 1. Then the coinage
ratio conformed to the commercial
ratio; now it does not, and that is what
Is causing most of the present trouble
about the currency.
| In 1852. six years after the Declara-
ton of Independence and twelve years
before the first silver dollars were ac-
tually turned out, robert Morris, then
head of the finance department, SUBJ
mitted to Congress scheme for the
establishment of United States mint
and the coinage of various denomina-
tons of metal money. including silver
dollars. The authorship of this plan
was claimed by Gouverneur Morris, a
relative of the man who proposed 1t. 1t
was received with some favor, and the
following year Congress authorized
the erection of a mint But nothing
came of it then, objections, chiefly on
the ground of expense, being raised in
many quarters
In 1875 Thomas Jefferson submitted
scheme providing for the coinage Of
golden eagles. silver dollars, half dol
lars, double dimes and dimes, and cop
per cents and half cents. In 1885 Con-
gress adopted this plan, and queer-look-
Ing cents and half cents were coined
under Its provisions. Inasmuch as there
was then no Federal mint, however.
the striking of these pieces was let out
by contract to man named Jarvis,
who did the work in the old Colonial
mints, situated at New Haven, Conn.
and Rupert, VT.
In 1892 the first United States mint
was built at Philadelphia. 1t was a
small, old-fashioned, three-story affair,
but 1t was considered great institu-
ton by the citizens of the young repub-
lie, especially those who CHANGED to
reside in Philadelphia. Men were not
wanting then. however, who.eaclared
1t to be aceless nieae OF expense for
struggling government to saddle it.
self with.
1t was in 1902 also that Congress de-
clared that the dollar should henceforth
be considered the unit of Federal coin
age, and ordered that all business ac-
counts must be kept according to the
decimal system.
The act directing the details and site
OF the mint was passed on April 2; on
July 81 the cornerstone was laid