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 AI>rAlfCE EDITION 
 
 Ciiriosities of A7nerica7i Coinage 
 
 By Alex. E. Outerbridge, Jr. 
 
 AUTHOn'S EDITION, extracted from HVIjIjETIT^ 
 
 OK THE 
 
 ^Uu^cum 0f Science and %x\, ^^\\mx$\% of f enna. 
 
 No. 4, Volume 1 
 MEMORANDUM (not for publication) FROM THE AUTHOR. 
 
 The "proof" of this paper was submitted to the National Sound Money 
 League, 740 Monadnock Building, Chicago, with the request that any errors of fact 
 or theory might be pointed out. The Secretary replied, " Your communication has 
 been examined by our staff and found correct." 
 
 The proprietors of the Bankers' Magazine, N. Y., referring to the statements 
 rej^arding the gold coinage, which appeared in a brief article in the July issue of that 
 magazine, write (Aug. 19th, 1898): "The facts brought to light by your investiga- 
 ti<ins are certainly important, and if you have not already done so we would suggest 
 thai you bring the matter to the attention of the Secretary of the Treasury, the 
 Director of the Mint, and the Committee on Coinage of the House of Representa- 
 tives." 
 7023 Germantown Ave., 
 
 Pbilo'lelphia, Sept. 1st, 189S.
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 en 
 
 MQ- 
 
 \-.'^U 
 
 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 
 By Alex. E. Outerbridge, Jr.^ 
 
 It is reinarkable, in view of the universal desire of mankind 
 to obtain money, that so few persons,- comparatively, really 
 know anything about the early history of money, or the social 
 and industrial conditions which led, long ago, to the substitu- 
 tion of pieces of coined money for direct barter, in short, when, 
 where, and how, the art of coining and use of metallic money 
 originated. Tliese are interesting subjects for historical and 
 arclueological research, and they have a direct practical relation 
 to the development of the modern science of money. Else- 
 where I have gone over this classical ground, and I pro- 
 pose, on this occasion, to limit the field to be surveyed to that 
 portion of the subject which relates particularly to the early 
 history of American coinage and its modern developments. 
 There are many curious and important facts relative to this 
 coinage with which the people are either wholly or in part 
 unacquainted. 
 
 My subject will be comprised under four heads, viz. : 1 . The 
 functions of money ; 2. The early Colonial coinage ; 3. The 
 coinage by private individuals or companies ; 4. The National 
 coinage. 
 
 THE FUNCTIONS OP MONEY. 
 
 In " Money and the Mechanism of Exchange/' Professor 
 Jevons relates an amusing experience of a Parisian singer who 
 made a professional tour of the world some years ago. In 
 crossing the Pacific Ocean the steamship was unexpectedly 
 compelled to call at the Society Islands, where she was detained 
 for a day or two. A few foreigners who were there invited 
 the sino;er to jjive a concert, as-reeing that she should receive 
 one-third of the gross proceeds. The lady accepted the invita- 
 tion, and the concert was well attended by the natives, who 
 
 ' A lecture delivered in the Museum of Science and Art, University of 
 Pennsylvania, March 23d, 1898. 
 
 1 
 
 272;^0(>
 
 2 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 
 
 came from all parts of the islands. When the receipts were 
 counted the lady found that her share consisted of several pigs, 
 fowls, goats, and a large quantity of bananas, cocoanuts, and 
 other tropical fruit. There was very little money in circulation 
 on the islands, and as Mademoiselle could not consume any 
 considerable portion of her share of the proceeds of the concert 
 it became necessary to feed the live stock with the fruit. 
 
 This story is told to illustrate a difficulty which arose in the 
 earliest commercial transactions from the want of a common 
 medium of exchange, which difficulty led to the invention (about 
 700 B. C.) of coined money as a "go-between " or substitute for 
 direct barter. 
 
 At the first glance it might appear a simple matter for the 
 butcher, the farmer, or the miller to make due exchange of 
 commodities without the intervention of the go-between called 
 money, but a little reflection will soon reveal at least three great 
 difficulties: First, that of finding two persons whose disposable 
 goods mutually suit each other's wants ; second, the impracti- 
 cability of subdividing many articles ; for example, a tailor can- 
 not cut up a coat into small portions without destroying its 
 value; third, the complexities involved in equitably adjusting 
 the relative values of various commodities. These and other 
 difficulties led to the selection, quite early in the history of 
 civilization, of certain substances which, by common consent, 
 were received by all persons in exchange for all commodities 
 at certain rates by mutual agreement. A curious variety of 
 materials have, at diffiirent times, and in diffi^rent countries, 
 served this useful purpose, and it is evident that such sub- 
 stances would soon come to possess the two great functions of 
 money, viz. : 
 
 1. A common medium of exchange. 
 
 2. A common measure of value. 
 
 In the most primitive age the skins of wild animals were 
 usually selected, being both useful and portable. Even in the 
 early part of tiiis century the business of the Hudson Bay 
 Trading Company was transacted with the North American 
 Indians entirely on this basis; a gun, for example, was valued at 
 " twenty i)eaver skins." In Massachusetts (and otlier colonies)
 
 ftj] be be £JD !^ 
 
 o o o o o 
 i--^ o o o^o 
 
 CI -^-; — M
 
 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 5 
 
 prior to the Revolution specie was at times so scarce that 
 laws were passed legalizing the payment of taxes in skins, 
 cattle, and farm products. 
 
 It is said that in the mountainous districts of Kentucky, 
 skins are used even to this day as currency to a limited extent 
 by the natives. 
 
 In Massachusetts a law was enacted, March 4th, 1634, as 
 follows : " It is likewise ordered that muskett bulletts, of a 
 full hoare, shall pass currantly for a farthing a-piece, provided 
 that noe man be compelled to take above XII pence att a tyme 
 in them." 
 
 EARLY COLONIAL COINAGE. 
 
 The inconvenience experienced from the want of sj'tecie 
 caused the colony of Massachusetts to establish a mint as long 
 ago as the year 1652 ; this was exactly 140 years before the 
 establishment of the National Mint in Philadelphia. The 
 Massachusetts law provided for the coinage of "shillings," 
 " 6 pence" and " 3 pence," all of sterling silver, that is, 925 
 parts of pure silver and 75 parts of copper ; the law stipulated 
 that the coins were " to be reduced in weight 2 pence in the 
 shilling less than the English coin." A curious mistake 
 occurred in the calculation whereby these shillings were made 5J 
 grains too light, but they served a good purpose notwithstand- 
 ing. The device upon the coins is a " pine tree," and the 
 Massachusetts pine-tree shillings are now so rare that they are 
 only to be found in cabinets of coins. 
 
 The British Government opposed the establishment of this 
 mint, as it did in fact all manufacturing industries of every 
 kind in the colonies, but the mint continued in active opera- 
 tion for over thirty years and Maryland soon followed 
 Massachusetts' example. These were the only silver coins 
 issued before the Revolution, but several other American colo- 
 nies issued copper coins. After the Revolution silver Avas coined 
 by the ditferent States, and even by private individuals, and very 
 soon after peace was established Congress began agitating the 
 subject of a national coinage. Robert Morris, the financier, was 
 directed to present a scheme of coins and currency. His first
 
 6 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 
 
 report (prepared by the assistant financier) was presented in 
 1782 and it proposed a decimal system, which has been adopted, 
 but all the other features were discarded, chiefly on account of 
 the diminutiveness of the proposed " unit," which was only 
 one-tenth of a penny. Jefferson said in the discussion " a horse 
 or bullock of $30 value would require a notation of six figures, 
 to wit: 115.200 units." A few years later Jefferson himself 
 presented a rejiort proposing the Spanish milled dollar as a suit- 
 able unit, as this coin was very familiar to the people and of a 
 convenient size ; these proceedings were under the " confedera- 
 tion" and one of the articles of the original compact permitted 
 coinage " by the respective States." Vermont, Connecticut, 
 Massachusetts, and other States issued coins under this arrange- 
 ment for a few years, until the Constitution in 1787 vested the 
 ris:ht of coinage solelv in tiie General Government. 
 
 For some reason, not known, the code of laws for establish- 
 ing the National Mint was not formulated until five years later. 
 
 The Act of April 2, 1792, provided for the establishment of a 
 Mint, and for the coining of ten, five, and two-and-a-half dollar 
 gold pieces ; also one dollar, one-half, one-quarter, one-tenth of 
 a dollar in silver ; one cent and half-cent in copper. 
 
 Copper coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1792, 
 some of these bore the head of Washington on one side, but he 
 disapproved of the device and suggested the substitution of the 
 head of Liberty. Since that time no American coin has ever 
 displayed the head of any individual. 
 
 COINAGE BY PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANIES. 
 
 An exceedingly interesting curious, and, indeed, inexplicable 
 feature of the early history of coinage of money in America, 
 regarding which there is but little accurate information available 
 at the present day, is the issuing, on a large scale, of gold, silver 
 and copper coins (also "tokens") by private individuals and by 
 trading companies. It will surprise many, no doubt, to learn 
 the extent to which this practice was carried, and that it was 
 permitted to exist until a comparatively recent period, notwith- 
 standing the express prohibition in the Constitution of all such 
 acts.
 
 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. iJ 
 
 III a report made to Congress by the Director of the Mint 
 (Dr. Patterson) iu 1840, these words may be found : 
 
 " Coinage of gohl and silver, though withheld from the State, 
 is freely permitted by individuals." 
 
 In 1850 the assayers of the Mint (Eckfeldt and Du Bois) 
 reported: "There are several classes of gold coins which are 
 struck within the national boundaries, but are not of the United 
 States; these are Bechtler's coins of North Carolina and the 
 California coins." 
 
 In 1851 the assayers reported that twenty-seven different 
 kinds of gold coins, issued from fifteen private mints, had been 
 received and assayed at the United States Mint in Philadelphia. 
 
 The earliest private coinage intended for use in the colonies 
 of America (except the Bermuda "hog" coins) is known to 
 numismatists under the general name " Rosa Americana," and 
 the storv connected therewith is most remarkable. In the year 
 1722, Mr, Wood, an iron founder of Wolverhampton, Eng- 
 land, claimed to have discovered an alloy suitable for coins, 
 consisting of copper, zinc and a small proportion of silver. 
 Through the influence of a favorite of George I, known as 
 the " Duchess of Kendall," a patent was issued by the King, 
 dated July 12, 1722, together with a "Royal license," which 
 was to continue for fourteen years, for coining "tokens" for 
 Ireland and the colonies of North America to a large extent, 
 viz., "three hundred tons;" the amount of the Irish coin was 
 limited to £105,000, a great sum at that day. 
 
 A small royalty of £100 a year was to be paid into the 
 King's exchequer and a salary of £200 to an officer of the 
 Crown, called the "Comptroller." Sir Isaac Newton, then the 
 Director of the Royal Mint, was chosen for this office, and he 
 served for a short time, when he nominated a nephew, M'ho suc- 
 ceeded him. 
 
 Thousands of Wood's base metal coins were struck for 
 use in Ireland, and the issue would probably have been 
 accepted by the people without question, had it not been that 
 Dean Swift, then living in seclusion, saw in this scheme an 
 opportunity to attack the English Government, and by his 
 *' Drapier's Letters," his poems, and other writings, all anony-
 
 10 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 
 
 moiisly published, iu which he mercilessly lampooned the scheme 
 and all those who were in any way connected with it, lie 
 aroused a storm of fury that is said to have been "indescrib- 
 able." A writer of the day said : "All parties, Catholics and 
 Protestants, Whigs, Tories, Orangemen and Rapparees, were 
 equally frantic. Merchants publicly announced they would not 
 accept the coin, the very hawkers and link-boys refused it, 
 declaring it would buy neither ale, tobacco, nor brandy. 
 Wood's effigy was dragged through the streets of Dublin 
 and burned. . . . The Privy Council offered a reward of £300 
 for the discovery of the author of the ' Drapier's Letters.' " 
 
 The Kiug then ordered the proposed issue to be reduced to 
 £40,000, but this did not assuage the excitement in the least, 
 and it finally became necessary, iu order to restore peace, to buy 
 back the Royal license from Mr. Wood, by the payment to him 
 of a pension of £3,000 a year for fourteen years. 
 
 This failure did not, apparently, kill the project for coining 
 money for the American colonies, and the many pieces actually 
 struck for that purpose are creditable specimens of the art at 
 that period. On the obverse appears the head of the king and 
 on the reverse a full blown rose, with the legend, " Rosa 
 Americana," and the date " 1722." On the later issues the head 
 of George II appears and the date, 1733. 
 
 There is preserved iu the Massachusetts archives a letter of 
 instructions, dated October 29th, 1725, from the Duke of New 
 Castle to the Governor of Massachusetts, saying: 
 
 Sir, His Majesty having been pleased to graunt to Mr. Wood his letters 
 patent for the coining of two pence and half pence pieces of tlie value of 
 money of Great Britain for His Majesty's dominions in America, which said 
 coin is to receive such additional value as shall be reasonable and agreeable 
 according to the customary allowance of exchange in the several parts of 
 His Majesty's dominions, as you will see more at large by the patent 
 wliicli will be laid before you by the person that delivers this letter to you, 
 I am to signify to you His Majesty's pleasure that in pursuance of a clause 
 in said patent by which all His Majesty's officers are to be aiding and assist- 
 ing Mr. Wood in the due execution of what is therein directed and in the 
 legal exercise of the several powers and enjoyment of the privileges and 
 advantages thereby graunted to him, you are to give him all due encourage- 
 ment and assistance and that you and all sucii other of His Majesty's officers 
 there, whom it may concern, do readily perform all legal acts that may he
 
 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 11 
 
 requisite for that purpose. This I ara particularly to recommend tu your care, 
 and to desire your protection to Mr. Wood and to tho.se whom he shall employ 
 to transact this affair in the Provinces under your government. 
 
 I am Sir 
 
 Yr Most Humble Servant 
 
 New Ca.stle. 
 
 If we may rely upon the statement of an Engli.sh writer ot 
 the day Mr. Wood's coin did not meet with a very cordial 
 reception in America, for the pamphlet says: 
 
 " Wood obtained a patent for coining small money for the English planta- 
 tions in America in which he had the conscience to make 13 shillings out of 
 1 pound of brass, this money they rejected in a manner not so decent as that 
 of Ireland." 
 
 In the year 1830 Mr. Templetou Reid, of Georgia, established 
 a private mint at which he coined $10, $5, and $2.50 gold 
 pieces ; these circulated freely through the South, and they were 
 brought to the U. S. Mint in Philadelphia for deposit and 
 re-melting in quantities. The assayer reported in 1842 that the 
 $10 gold pieces of T. Reid weighed 248 grains, contained 942 
 parts of pure gold in 1,000 parts of metal, and the intrinsic 
 value slightly exceeded the nominal value, being worth $10.06. 
 These coins are now quite rare. 
 
 In 1831 Christopher Bechtler of Rutherfordton, N. C, fol- 
 lowed Mr. Reid's example on a larger scale, and in a few years 
 he had issued several million dollars worth of gold coins of 
 denominations of $10, $5, $2.50, and §1.^ 
 
 In 1842 the Mint assayers stated that "coining is still carried 
 on by Bechtler, although there is a branch United States Mint 
 less than eighty miles distant." This was located at Charlotte, 
 N. C. 
 
 In 1851 the assayers reported that "several of the private 
 issues of gold coins from California are close imitations of 
 the national coin; some assay nearly up to the nominal value, 
 but many fall below." A $10 piece of the Pacific Company 
 only yielded $7.8(3 in gold. A lot of diilerent denominations 
 
 'In 1840 Mr. Bechtler stated that the amount of his coinage to date was 
 $2,241,840.
 
 12 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 
 
 aggregating S562.50, nominal value, yielded at the Mint in 
 Philadelphia 3479.20. 
 
 One interesting gold coin, a $50 piece (some were octagonal), 
 issued by Aug. Humbert, United States Assayer at Sau Fran- 
 cisco, yielded the full nominal value. All of these private 
 issues have now been stopped, and strict laws have been passed 
 punishing any attempt to imitate the coins of the nation ; 
 even the toy money formerly made for children of gilded paper 
 has been prohibited by the government authorities. 
 
 THE NATIONAL COINAGE. 
 
 The Mint was established in Philadelphia in 1792 and in its 
 first year issued copper coins only, coining of the other denomi- 
 nations of money, as already named, commenced in 1793. 
 
 Many persons believe that the so-called " Dollar of the 
 Daddies," weighing 412^^ grains (nine-tenths fine), having a 
 ratio to gold of " 16 to 1 " in value when first coined, was the 
 original dollar of the Constitution. This is, however, erro- 
 neous. The 412| grain silver dollar was not authorized until 
 forty-five years later. The original silver dollar weighed 416 
 grains, and the ratio of silver to gold was 15 to 1, not J 6 to 1. 
 
 Several modifications in weight and fineness of both gold and 
 silver coins were made during the first few years, prior to the 
 Act of January 18, 1837, which greatly simplified the coinage 
 by adopting the French decimal system, including a uniform 
 "fineness" or proportion of 9 parts of gold to 1 part of copper 
 for the gold coins, and the same proportion of silver and copper 
 for the silver coins ; the weights of the gold and silver coins 
 were, at the same time, readjusted so as to make the ratio " 16 to 
 1 " between silver and gold.^ 
 
 The total issue of silver dollars coined under the Acts of 1792 
 and 1837 until 1873, when the coinage was dropped, amounted 
 
 ' The original silver dollar, authorized under the Act of April 2, 1792» 
 contained 892.4 parts of pure silver in 1000 parts of metal and weighed 416 
 grains. The Act of January 18tli, 1837, changed the proportion of silver to 
 900 j)art8 in 1000 and the weigiit to 412J grains, the amount of pure silver 
 thus remained unchanged.
 
 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 13 
 
 to $8,031,238. When the Bland Act was passed, in 1878, the 
 sih'er in the silver dollar weighing 412^ grains was worth 89.1 
 cents ; to-day the silver in the same dollar is worth about 42.5 
 <;euts. In the first four months after the Bland bill was passed 
 8,573,500 Bland dollars were coined, or more than the entire 
 issue of the old silver dollars in eighty years. In the same 
 year also the Mint coined 11,378,610 " trade dollars " which 
 weiffhed 7h irrains more than the Bland dollars, but were not 
 ^' legal tenders," ^ and, though issued by the United States Mint, 
 were refused by the United States Government in the payment 
 for postage stamps, taxes, or for other dues, while the Bland 
 dollar, of lesser intrinsic value, was a legal tender and good for 
 payment of all debts. The total issue of trade dollars between 
 1873 and 1879 was 35,965,924, and the total issue of Bland 
 dollars, from 1878 to the close of the fiscal year 1897, was 
 451,993,742. 
 
 The following table shows the total coinage value of all 
 denominations of silver coin from the establishment of the 
 United States Mint in 1792 to the end of the last fiscal year, 
 June 30, 1897: 
 
 J. J j^^l 1792 to February 12, 1873 $8,031,238 00 
 
 ° ^^^ 1 1878 to June 30, 1897 451,993,742 00 
 
 Trade Dollars 35,965,924 00 
 
 Half " 134,033,195 00 
 
 Columbian Half Dollars 2,501,052 50 
 
 Quarter Dollars 52,395,052 00 
 
 Columbian Quarter Dollars 10,005 75 
 
 20 Cent Pieces 271,000 00 
 
 10 " " 29,428,613 90 
 
 5 " " 4,880,219 40 
 
 3 " " 1,282,087 20 
 
 Total §720,792,129 75 
 
 It thus appears that the Bland dollars coined since 1878 ex- 
 ceed in coining value all the other issues of silver money 
 
 1 The act of Feb. 12th, 1873, made the trade dollar a " legal tender in sums 
 not exceeding $5.00; this legal tender quality was withdrawn by the joint 
 resolution approved July 22d, 1876, and the coinage was limited to such 
 amount as the Secretary of the Treasury should consider suflScient to meet the 
 export demands." — United States Treasury Departvunt Circvlar No. US.
 
 14 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 
 
 from the establishment of the Mint, in 1792, to the present 
 day. 
 
 Although Congress appropriated a sum of mouey ($40,000) 
 to " pay the freight" on Bland dollars from the Mints, or Sub- 
 Treasuries, to any part of the country, the government has never 
 succeeded in getting more than a small proportion of the vast 
 accumulation of Bland dollars into circulation. It became 
 necessarv, therefore, to construct enormous storage vaults of steel, 
 some of which will hold more than one hundred million of 
 these dollars. The depreciation in market value of silver in 
 the Bland dollars and uncoined bars is estimated to be about 
 §200,000,000. 
 
 The dropping of the original 41 2|^ grain silver dollar from 
 the law of 1873 was purposely done in order to make a place 
 for the new silver coin called the "trade dollar," ostensibly in- 
 tended for foreign trade only, actually put into circulation to a 
 large extent at home at a profit to silver owners, the " free 
 coinage" privilege and falling market value of silver made 
 these transactions remunerative. Some people who accepted 
 the trade dollars in good faith suffered loss.^ This was the 
 first entering wedge of the silver speculation which has attained 
 such gigantic proportions. 
 
 The first coinage of the country was, in a measure, experi- 
 mental ; there were several different and very complicated 
 finenesses, or proportions of precious metal and alloy used. 
 Then, in 1837, an admirably simple system of coinage proposed 
 by Dr. Patterson was established. Later on various more or 
 less al)snrd ideas were advanced and experiments were tried? 
 such as the "goloid" dollars, consisting of silver and gold in 
 proportions of 24 to 1 and 15|^ to 1, invented and patented by 
 
 ' Under the act of Feb. 19th, 1887, holrlers of trade dollars were permitted 
 to exchange them for " Bland " dollars if presented at the Treasury, or any 
 sub-treasury, within six months from that date. Less than one-fourth were 
 thus redeemed, (7,689,036), and since the expiration of the period of redemp- 
 tion, trade dollars have been purchased as bullion, at the market price of 
 silver, when presented at the mints. Although containing more silver than 
 the Blantl dullar, the trade dollar is worth less than half as much, owing ta 
 the low price of silver.
 
 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 15 
 
 Dr. W. W, riubbcll. Spucinions of these freak coins were 
 struck at the Phihidelphia Mint in 1878 J 
 
 At the time that Congress was engaged in formulating laws 
 for the establishment of the Mint and the regulation of the coin- 
 age in 1792, the production of silver in this country was 
 insignificant in amount. From 1815 to 1857 inclusive, the 
 silver output is estimated to have been about $50,000 each year. 
 As long ago as the year 1853 the production of gold amounted 
 to $65,000,000 and the annual output has never equaled that 
 amount since that time. In 1860 the silver product amounted 
 in value to $150,000. In 1861 it jumped suddenly to .1?2,000,000, 
 in the following year to $4,685,000, in the next year to 
 $8,500,000, and so on, by leaps and bounds, until, in 1878, we 
 were turning out about $45,000,000 worth of silver (commercial 
 value) per annum. This was the real reason why the Bland 
 bill for the restoration of the old silver dollar, weighing 412^ 
 grains, was introduced into Congress and passed over the Presi- 
 dent's veto. It was then supposed that a maximum output of 
 silver had been attained, but this was far from the fact. 
 Production increased amazingly even in the face of falling 
 prices. 
 
 In 1878, the year the Bland bill became law, the average 
 price of pure silver was $1.15 an ounce, and the output from 
 American mines was less than 35,000,000 fine ounces. In 1896 
 the average value of an ounce of fine (pure) silver was 67 cents, 
 but the output of silver had risen to nearly 59,000,000 fine- 
 ounces. Since that time the price of silver has fallen still 
 lower ; to-day it is about 55| cents per ounce. 
 
 In 1837, when the 412^ grain silver dollar was authorized. 
 
 ^ Two different designs of goloid coins were struck : 
 
 1. The " goloid dollar," having the head of Liberty and motto " E Plu- 
 ribus Unum " on tiie obverse, while on the reverse the following tigures 
 appear : 1 gold, 24 silver, .9 fine, 258 grains. 
 
 2. The " goloid metric dollar," having similar design on the obverse, and 
 on the reverse the following figures: 15.3 gold, 236.7 silver, 28 copper, 14 
 grammes. 
 
 Proof specimens of these coins are preserved in the cabinet of tlie Mint in 
 Philadelphia.
 
 16 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 
 
 the pure silver contained therein (371^ grains) was worth 100 
 cents in gold. To-day the pure silver in the Bland dollar is 
 worth 4:2^ cents. 
 
 The value of any raw product depends mainly upon the 
 relation between the production and consumption ; when this 
 remains constant the {)rice of the commodity varies but 
 little. 
 
 The commercial ratio of silver to gold has been carefully de- 
 termined by Dr. A. Soetbeer, the renowned statistician, from 
 the years 1687 to 1832; by Pixley and Abell from 1832 to 
 1878, and after the latter date by the daily cablegrams from 
 London to the Bureau of the Mint, These tables show that 
 the ratio between silver and gold vibrated between the limits of 
 a trifle below 15 to 1 and 16 to 1 for nearly two centuries. In 
 1873 the ratio was almost exactly 16 to 1, then the great flood 
 of silver began to pour out from the famous Comstock lode and 
 other mines in the West, so that production soon far exceeded 
 consumption. The government was compelled by the 
 "Bland" Act of February, 1878, to purchase silver at the 
 rate of " not less than $2,000,000 worth per month." This 
 continued without interruption for twelve years (from 1878 to 
 1890) during which time more than four hundred million silver 
 dollars were coined. The Sherman Act, repealing the coining 
 of the Bland dollars, really made matters worse, in some respects, 
 as it authorized the purchase by the government of not less than 
 4,500,000 ounces of silver per month, and 168,674,682.53 fine 
 ounces were purchased in four years (1891-1894) at a cost to 
 the government of $155,931,002.25, under the act of July 14th, 
 1890. The average price paid for this silver was almost 92|- 
 cents per ounce. At the present market price (55| cents per 
 ounce) there is a depreciation in value of $62,316,553.45 on 
 the silver pigs purchased under this act. Notwithstanding 
 these heroic efforts to sustain the price of silver through the 
 coni{)ulsory purchase by the government of such vast quan- 
 tities of the metal, the flood continued rising higher and 
 higher while the price descended lower and lower, thus prov- 
 ing that silver obeys the law of all commodities, and that 
 any attempt to sustain the price by artificial means, even when
 
 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 
 
 17 
 
 backed by such a rich and powerful government, an(] carried 
 out on such a great scale, must surely fail.' 
 
 COINING OF GOLD. 
 
 If the question should now be asked you, " What denomina- 
 tion of gold money of the United States has been most largely 
 coined since the establishment of the Mint in 1792?" you 
 would probably say the " gold dollar, of course." The answer 
 would be wrong — very wrong. Less than twenty million gold 
 dollars in all have been struck, and their coinage has been en- 
 tirely discontinued for nearly ten years. If, on the other hand, 
 the question should be asked, " Which denomination of gold 
 money has been coined most sparingly?" you would probably 
 say, " the double-eagle." Again the answer would be wrong. 
 
 Although the double-eagle was not authorized until 1849, 
 fifty-seven years after the Act which authorized the eagle, half- 
 eagle and quarter eagle, more double-eagles have been coined 
 than of any other denomination of gold, and the intrinsic value 
 thereof is more than twice that of all the other gold coins put 
 together. The total value of all gold coined in the United 
 States Mints, except the double eagles, from the organization of 
 the Mint in 1792 to June 30, 1897, is $548,840,918. The 
 value of tiie double-eagles coined since 1850 (the first year of 
 their coinage) to June 30, 1897, is $1,337,498,040. 
 
 'Circular No. 143 (dated .July 1st, 1897), issued by the Uuited States 
 Treasury Department, says, p. 63 : " The stock of gold and silver in the 
 world in 1873 and 1896 is estimated to have been as follows : 
 
 
 1873. 
 
 1896. 
 
 Gold 
 
 S3,(M5,000,000 
 1,817,000,000 
 
 54,100,000,000 
 4,200,000,000 
 
 Silver 
 
 
 The commercial value of silver in 1896 was less than one-half of its value 
 per ounce fine in 1873; notwithstanding this great fall in price, the estimated 
 value of silver in the world in 1896 exceeded the estimated value of gold at 
 that time, while in 1873 the estimated value of silver was only 59i per cent, 
 of the estimated value of the gold in the world. 
 
 Stated in otiier terms, the gain in estimated value of gold is 34. G5 per cent., 
 while the gain in estimated value of silver in the same period is 131 percent.
 
 18 CUBIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 
 
 A circular issued by the United States Treasury Department 
 savs : " The total coinage of gold by the Mints of the United 
 States from 1792 to June 30, 1897, is $1,886,338,958, of which 
 it is estimated that $671,676,250 is now in existence as coin in 
 the United States." The pamphlet explains in detail the basis 
 upon which the estimate of the gold coin in the United States 
 was established, and says : "It will be seen that more than 
 two-thirds of the gold coins struck at the mints of the United 
 States have disappeared from circulation." This is an astound- 
 ing statement. What has become of all this vast store of gold, 
 amounting in value to $1,214,662,708, or more than 90 per 
 cent, of the value of the entire issue of double eagles? 
 
 It is not a mere theory of mine that the disappearance from 
 circulation of about two-thirds in value of all the gold 
 coins struck at the Mints of the United States is due in part 
 to the preponderance of coinage of double eagles. Thirty- 
 seven years ago the Director of the Mint called attention to 
 the matter in his official report as follows : " The chief design 
 of a National Mint is to subserve the interests of the people at 
 large preferably to a few large owners of bullion or coin. 
 The interests of the public and of depositors are not always 
 concurrent in the matter under discussion. . . . The plain 
 effect of issuing gold coin of a large size is to keep 
 down the circulation of specie, and increase the use of paper 
 money." 
 
 In the Director's report for the year 1880 I find the following : 
 " In Great Britain the gold coinage consists almost wholly of 
 sovereigns and half-sovereigns ; in France, of twenty and ten- 
 franc pieces ; and in Germany of ten-mark j)ieces, all of these 
 coins being of less value than five dollars. The absorption by 
 France of §1,100,000,000 of gold imports into her circulation 
 during the thirty years froqi 1850 to 1880 may in part 
 be accounted for by the coinage of nearly all this gold into 
 denominations of less than two and four dollars value." 
 
 The average coinage value of double-eagles during the ])ast 
 four years has been over $14,000,000 a year, as compared 
 with a yearly average value during the same j^eriod of about 
 $10,000,000 in eagles, $4,()00;000 in half eagles, and $30,000, in
 
 CURIOSITIES OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 
 
 19 
 
 quarter eagles ! It thus appears that we are still coining two- 
 thirds of our gold into double-eagles that never ])ass into cir- 
 culation and disappear ini mediately.^ If, instead of pursuing 
 this short-sighted policy for so many years, the people had 
 been encouraged, by the issue of small denominations, on 
 the return to specie payments in 1879, to circulate gold 
 instead of paper, the gold could not have been so readily 
 drained away from this country to foreign lands, as has un- 
 fortunately happened on a great scale during the past few 
 years. 
 
 If these words shall produce any impression upon those in 
 authority, aud thus lead to a modification of our coinage laws 
 or customs in this regard, the attempt I have here made to 
 combine with an academical discussion of the curiosities of 
 American coinage some practical suggestions for improvement 
 therein may not prove altogether futile. 
 
 For nearly fifty years we have been coining double-eagles (not 
 to raeution eagles) that are, as a rule, immediately shipped to 
 Europe; there they go at once to the melting-pot, and are con- 
 verted into British sovereigns (having a different proportion of 
 alloy) or into gold coins of other nations; as soon as the rate of 
 exchange changes beyond a certain degree these brand-new for- 
 eign gold coins are to some extent shijiped back to us, and they 
 in turn go to the raelting-j)ot at the Mint, where the proportion 
 of alloy is again changed to make the' standard of the United 
 States (9-10 fine). The gold is then recoined, shipped back to 
 Europe, and so the process is repeated indefinitely. 
 
 In addition to the large expense involved in this useless and 
 endless work there is irrevocable loss of precious metal with 
 
 ^ The following table shows the gold coinage executed at the mints of the 
 United States during the fiscal year ended June 30th, 1897 : 
 
 DenominatiOD. 
 
 Number. 
 
 Value. 
 
 
 2,990,241 
 804,301 
 747,802 
 23,946 
 
 859,804,820.00 
 
 8,043,010.00 
 
 3,739,010.00 
 
 59,86>=).00 
 
 Eagles 
 
 Half Eagles 
 
 Quarter Eagles 
 
 Total gold 
 
 4,566,290 
 
 871,846,705.00 
 
 
 272a(K;
 
 20 CURIOSITIES OF AMEEICAN COIN^AGE. 
 
 each handling, melting, and coining. I believe that all this is 
 unnecessary. It would be perfectly feasible for the nations to 
 agree upon some simpler method of adjusting trade balances at 
 a tithe of this cost; and even if the time shall not yet have 
 come for making such settlements by a sort of international 
 clearing house, a partial solution of the difficulty would be 
 found in the adoption of an international gold coin, or in the 
 more general employment for export of fine gold bars instead 
 of coin, which have been assayed at the mints or United States 
 Assay Offices and officially stamped with their weight and fine- 
 ness. There is less risk of loss by robbery in transshipment ot 
 such bars, and counterfeiting is not likely to prove a dangerous 
 impediment for several reasons, one of which is that such bars 
 do not pass into general circulation. 
 
 It is, of course, necessar}', before we can hope to interest 
 foreign governments in any improvement in international mone- 
 tary matters, that we should adopt a reform in our own currency, 
 bringing order out of the present chaotic condition. 
 
 In conclusion, I desire to call your particular attention to the 
 valuable collection of early American coins, as well as coins 
 of other nations, deposited in this Museum by Mr. Robert 
 C. H. Brock, of Philadelphia, from which the Director, Mr. 
 Culin, has had the illustrations made. This collection is rich 
 in specimens of all of the issues mentioned, and they are in 
 excellent preservation. 
 
 ADDENDUM— " Pattern pieces" only were struck at the 
 Mint in Philadelphia, in 1792; the regular coinage of copper 
 cents and half cents began in 1793; the coining of silver 
 commenced in 1794, and of gold in 1795.
 
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