The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1905-11-09
PASSING OF PESO.
MEXICAN DOLLAR HAS ABOUT
SERVED IT'S TIME.
New Coins of other Countries Are
Taking It's Place in Inter-
national Trade Tran
sactions.

The days of the old Mexican peso are
numbered. The coin which for nearly
four centuries has been an important
factor in the commercial transactions,
not only of Mexico but of the Antilles,
Central and South America and the ORR
ent. has served its term of usefulness,
says the New York Herald.
The new monetary system of the Phil
ippines will drive the peso from the
archipelago; the dollar of Indo-China
already circulates in such quantities in
the French possessions in the far east
that practically It has banished the Mex
ican dollar; the British dollar has re-
placed the peso In the Straits Settle
ments. Hongkong and Labuan and the
international exchange commission has
undertaken to draw the attention of the
civilized world to the necessity Of the
adoption by China of a monetary sys-
tenn of its own.
The old Mexican dollar, when this lat
ter measure shall have been adopted.
will have come to the end of its career
as q trade coin. and. like the thaler of
Maria Theresa Il will survive only as
memory of what was once a factor of
civilization. and progress in the ancient
nations OF the east
Now. Mexico itself has sounded the
death knell of the peso in the place of
its birth The monetary commission
which has been studying the question Of
currency reform asked itself this ques-
tion:
Ought the present dollar. which,
whatever else II is. is chiefly one Of our
oldest historical monuments, and the
trade coin par excellence of America and
the far east, to be retained in circula-
| tion?"
In answering the question in the neg
ative the commission has thrown senti-
meut to the winds. yielded to the re-
| auirements of the tin es, and, when the
prospective legislation is placed in
force. a new coin will be put in circula-
tion in Mexico.
The old peso is far from being an ar
tistic model. and the imperfections IN
its design. the poor finish and the indis-
tinctness of its milling invite counter
| felters to initiate IL. Recognizing this,
and also that the necessity Of conserv-
/ ing the prestige which the peso had
won In the far east has passed, the mon
etary commission has recommended to
the government that the old coin be de-
monetized, and that when the new mon
etary system is put into force a suit
able substitute, carefully designed. ac-
culately coined and bearing distinctly
! different efigy. be offered the people
The romance of the Mexican mint is
without parallel. II was established in
1865 by royal decree. No gold coins
were minted until nearly a century and
half later. During the Spanish do
minion. which lasted until Mexican in
dependence was recognized in 1921. the
/ silver output of the mint was more than
2,000,000,000 pesos. The gold coinage
only amounted TO 69,000.000. Since the
establishment of Mexican independence
over half billion silver pesos have been
| coined.
In the latter years of the sixteenth
century, or within so years after the
mint was established, the Mexican peso
was in circulation In the Antilles, Cen
tral and South America and in the Phil
ippines, whence its regime was extended
to China and the East Indies. II was
not until 1896 that the peso was demon
etized by the Spanish government in
| Cuba and Porto Rico.
In the first century of the Spanish
discoveries and colonization the mer.
chants of Cadiz and Seville sent their
cargoes to Vera Cruz. These were
freighted by burros over the mountain
trails and through the passes to the
City Of Mexico. Here they we're ex
changed for silver dollars. which were
packed on the backs of the burros ant
carried to the port Of Acapulco. on the
Pacific coast. Thence the money wat
taken to the Philippines in the Spanish
galleons, which came back laden with
silks and spices and other products o.
the orient. Again the burros trans
ported the merchandise, this time acros!
the country to Vera Cruz. where IL wa'
transshipped to Spain. The burros still
compete with the railroads as common
carriers across Mexico, but now they
seldom carry burdens Of silver dollars.