soon turned out, however, that, from the depreciation of silver, owing to various causes, and the practice of fraudulent arts, the guinea was worth more; and in 1717, in the reign of George I., at the recommendation of Sir Isaac Newton, then master of the mint, the guinea was rated at 21 shillings. By this change gold was overvalued 1.931 per cent, and aided by the actual improvement throughout the 18th century in the value of silver in respect to gold, resulted in the exclusive use of gold in large payments, and the exportation of all silver of full weight. From that time up to 1816, when the reformation in the coinage took place, there was no coin to represent the pound.

Thus, by a false valuation of the metals, operating for near a century, gold came to be the sole currency of England. In 1816 a new system was introduced by Lord Liverpool. It was, that gold coins only should be a legal tender above forty shillings, and from a Troy pound of standard silver sixtysix shillings were coined instead of sixty-two, as formerly. The government reserving the four shillings as a duty, and to prevent an excess of silver coins, also reserved the right of issuing them in its own hands. In France the reverse operation took place. Prior to 1726 the greatest confusion prevailed in the currency. In that year, under Louis XV., a general recoinage took place; but silver was overvalued-that is, the Louis d'or, which was really worth 25 livres 10 sols, was only valued at 24 livres. He, therefore, who should pay in gold instead of silver, would have lost 1 livre 10 sols on every Louis. The consequence was, the banishment of gold and the universal use of silver. This happened at nearly the time when gold was overvalued in England. Hence, these two regulations served to draw gold from France into England, and send silver there to replace it. This continued until 1785, when a general recoinage took place, and gold was received at a reduced rate. In the year 1795 the revolution produced a new system of coinage. Silver was made the only legal tender, and the standard altered to 0.9 fine, and the franc made the unit. Since that time the coinage of silver has been large and uniform. In many of the countries of Europe it has been the practice to alloy the small coins to a

very great extent, and they are circulated at rates far above their intrinsic values, the government deriving a large profit from the manufacture. The countries of Germany mostly use this system, and the circulation consists of coin scarcely distinguishable from copper. These coins are called "billon," a word like "agio," "cambiste," "usance," &c., derived from the Lombards, who, escaping the devastating wars of the Guelphs and Gibellines in the 13th century, spread themselves over Europe, carrying with them the monetary sciences.

The United States have, partly from circumstances and partly from pursuing a wrong system, advanced less in the establishment of a sound national currency than any other commercial nation. The old colonies, settled by French, English, Spanish and Dutch, derived most of their coins from the mother-countries; and the coins sent out to the colonies were for the most part the worst descriptions of the illassorted circulations then current in the mother-countries. Specie, nevertheless, for a long time continued so scarce, that even taxes were paid in kind. Massachusetts, in 1652. and Maryland, in 1662, established mints for the coinage of small silver and copper pennies. These mints continued in operation about 30 years only. All the colonies, however, emitted largely of bills of credit to circulate as money, an operation which not only filled the country with injurious depreciated paper, but prevented the influx of foreign coins.As there was no specie in the country originally, all that was acquired was in the way of trade. The coins imported were mostly the SpanishAmerican dollars and their fractions, and pistareens; of gold, guineas, joes; doubloons and pistoles were most common. At the date of the confederation, the necessity of a uniform national currency was self-evident. The paper issues were to be gotten rid of, moneys of account abandoned, and a system of coinage adopted, by which the heterogeneous mass of foreign coins, of values unintelligible to the majority of the people, should be transformed into a regular and uniform national currency. With this view, Congress directed the "Financier," Robert Morris, to report upon the subject. The financial genius of this gentleman prov

ed to be wholly in the paper line-he was a promising financier altogether, and his predilections were displayed in the scheme he proposed. The local currencies of the various states were greatly and variously depreciated, and he found that 1-1440th part of a dollar was a common divisor for the different degrees of depreciation; he, therefore, proposed that fraction as a unit as if a person should take a list of the selling prices of all the broken bank notes afloat, and finding a common divisor, propose that as the unit of a national currency ! He then proposed that ten of those "units" should be a penny; ten pence one bill;" ten bills one "dollar;" ten dollars one "crown!" A project so absurd, by which the price of a hat would be expressed in 5,000 units, and to call the chief coin of a republic a "crown," was not worthy of notice. In 1784, Mr. Jefferson brought forward the plan which was adopted, viz., to take the Spanish dollar as the unit with decimal proportions; a gold piece $10, one dollar in silver, one dime in silver, and one cent of copper. Mr. Morris and the "crown" party struggled for the adoption of their plan, but Mr. Jefferson's was, of course, adopted, with the hearty approval of Washington, who wrote as follows:

"Mr. Jefferson's ideas upon this subject are plain and simple well adapted, I think, to the nature of the case, as he has exemplified by the plan. Without a coinage, or unless some stop can be put to the cutting and clipping of money, our dollars, pistareens, &c., will be converted, as Teague says, into FIVE quarters; and a man must travel with a pair of scales in his pocket, or run the risk of receiving gold at one-fourth less by weight than it

counts."

This was under the confederation; and many of the states continued to issue cents, until the constitution conferred upon Congress the sole power of "coining money and regulating the value thereof." In his report on moneys, weights, and measures, in 1790, Mr. Jefferson urged the establishment of the mint, remarking, "that nothing seems to be wanting but the actual coinage to banish the discordant pounds, shillings, pence and farthings of the different states, and to establish in their stead the new denominations." In April, 1792, the laws for establish

ing the mint at Philadelphia and regulating the coinage were passed. The mint did not get fairly into operation until 1795. Gold and silver were both made a legal tender. The standard for gold was fixed at 11 to 1, or 917 thousandths fine, the alloy to be half silver half copper. The weight of an eagle, 247 4-8 grains pure, or 270 grains standard; half eagle, 123 6-8 pure, or 135 standard; quarter eagle, 61 7-8 pure, or 67 4-8 standard. Silver was to be 892-4 thousandths fine, or 1485 grains pure silver to 179 copper. The cent was to weigh 11 dwts. The coinage continued at these rates down to 1834, forty-two years, with the exception of the cent, which, in 1796, was reduced to 7 dwts. by a proclamation of Washington, in consequence of the advance in copper. It is observable that the proportion of gold to silver fixed by that law was 15 to 1. This was too low, as the average actual proportion was nearer 16 to 1. The effect of this was the same, as similar regulations had produced in France, viz., to restrain the circulation of gold, and would gradually have banished it from circulation, causing silver to be the only coin. The adoption of a bank paper system, by that party which was defeated in its proposition of a "crown" effect similar to what the overvaluation currency, had upon both metals an of gold had upon its use as money, viz., to restrain the circulation of both metals. Another most injurious influence upon the metallic currency, was the location of the mint at Philadelphia. This was in consequence of a theoretical notion that the mint should be at the seat of government, without reference to the convenience of coinage. All the currency of the country must necessarily be furnished by commerce. The United States did not then produce the precious metals, and they could be obtained only by the importation of foreign coins, bullion, plate, and trinkets, in exchange for the products of industry sold abroad. Hence, although government furnished the means of coinage, the material to be coined was the property of individuals exclusively. To induce that material to be sent to the mint, not only must its owners be relieved from trouble and expense, but they must find their account in it. It is obvious

that coined money is more valuable than the shapeless bullion, and this difference of value constituted the inducement to send it to the mint. The law provided that it should be received free of expense; and if the owner wished to receive coin for it on the spot, per cent. should be deducted to remunerate the mint for the delay in coinage; the revenue so derived to go towards defraying the expenses of the mint. Now it is obvious, that notwithstanding no charge was made for coinage, if the mint was so situated, remote from the place where gold and silver is imported into the country, that the expense in getting to it was considerable, the effect was the same to the owner of the bullion, as if a charge for coining was actually made. The precious metals were mostly imported at Boston and New-York; and down to the construction of rail-roads, the expense of getting to Philadelphia was very great. The object to the owner in having the metals coined was, as we have said, the convenience of the coined money; it, however, also happened that most of the metals imported were foreign coins, and if these continued to be a legal tender, the object in obtain ing United States coins was very considerably diminished. The law of 1789, regulating the customs, authorized foreign coins to be taken at certain rates. The legalizing of foreign coins and locating the mint at Philadelphia, diminished the object while it enhanced the expense of coinage. This error was soon detected, and the law of February, 1793, enacted that in three years from the commencement of the new coinage, foreign coins should cease to be a legal tender. This movement, however, called up the opposition of the "crown" currency party who had succeeded in fastening the paper system upon the country. It was found that, although foreign coins were a legal tender, they would not circulate among the people. When a merchant received specie from abroad, as long as it was a legal tender, he deposited it in banks, and did not trouble himself about coinage. The

specie, although unfit for circulation, satisfied the law in relation to the redemption of the bank notes, and these latter were paid out to the people. The new law, therefore, by taking from foreign coins their quality of legal tender, would compel a coinage of all the money held by banks. These new coins would readily circulate in place of bank notes, and the profits of the "rag barons" be destroyed. In 1798, the law of 1793 was suspended for three years, and continued to be so suspended from time to time. Under these circumstances the operations of the mint were very moderate, and mostly of silver. The evil was a great one, and finally led to the re-adjustment of the coinage in 1834. In that adjustment, the practical effect of the false location of the mint was overlooked, and the whole evil attributed to the wrong valuation of gold. It was, therefore, resolved to reduce the weight and fineness of the gold pieces, allowing silver to remain the same. Accordingly, from 247 4-8 grains of pure gold, the eagle was reduced to 232 grains, and the whole weight from 270 to 258 grains, which was reducing the fineness from 916 thousandths to 899-2 thousandths. This was increasing the value of gold as compared to silver, 6 2-3 per cent., or from 15 to 1 to 16 to 1. There was still a want of uniformity in the fineness of gold and silver; and in 1837, a carefully digested law, regulating the mint on a permanent basis, was passed. By that act the pure gold was slightly increased; that is, from 899.2 thousandths it was raised to 900 thousandths; and to bring the silver to the same standard, 34 grains less of copper was put into a dollar, the effect of which was to reduce its weight to 4124 grains instead of 416 grains. By thus raising the value of gold, a great increase was effected in the coinage. The whole coinage at the United States mints from its first operation to the close of 1845, has been as follows, distinguishing the three periods of different standards:

Silver.

Copper.

Total. 48,759,859

3

.10,276,145..

-9

.26,208,330.

54 $48,310,365.

.1,042,556.

.115,946,66

The necessity of mints at some places more convenient for coinage than at Philadelphia forced itself upon the public mind, and in March, 1835, a law was passed, locating branches at Charlotte, N. C., Dahlonega, Geo., and at New-Orleans. At the two first named places the produce of the United States gold mines at those localities is coined, and New-Orleans is the port of entry for large sums mostly silver, coming from the West Indies and Mexico. The total coinage at these mints since their establishment, has been $1,100,245 gold at Charlotte; 2,400,815 gold at Dahlonega; 7,598,690 gold and 6,083,253 silver at New-Orleans-making $11,099,750 gold and 6,083,253 silver, or $17,183,003 as the total coinage in eight years at the branches. The branch at Charlotte was not in operation in 1845, owing to some repairs on the machinery. The description of metal deposited for coinage in 1845, at the mint and branches, was as follows:

The United States gold bullion reached 1,008,327, being mostly the production of the Georgia and North Carolina mines. In 1824, the whole product of those mines was $5,000, and the aggregate received up to the close of 1845, has been $10,713,211. This production increases year by year, and will soon become very important, notwithstanding the "competition of foreign pauper labor mines." Since the change in the relative legal values of gold and silver by the law of 1834, to conform to their actual market values, there appears to have been no apparent change in the latter, and the coins

have retained their places in circulation concurrently without a premium either way. How long this will continue, depends upon the future supply of metals. There are causes in operation which indicate that the supply will, in a few years, be prodigiously increased, and perhaps of one metal in excess of the other.

Up to the time of the discovery of the mines of America in 1500, the precious metals were not only scanty of supply in Europe, but the circulation was sluggish, arising from the disposition to hoard, and the use in churches of large quantities. When the prolific mines of Potosi, in Peru, were discocovered in 1554, a similar diminution in the value of silver throughout Europe took place, notwithstanding the rude manner in which the mines were worked, and the exorbitant tax imposed upon their product by the king of Spain. This was originally onehalf, and subsequently fell to one-third and one-fifth, until 1736, when it was reduced to 10 per cent., and finally, under the Mexican republic, to 3 per cent., which is the present rate. The reduction of the tax arose from the impossibility of working the mines to advantage by reason of the decline in the value of silver, and many were stopped. This diminished value did not altogether grow out of the enhanced supply; but as the freedom of the subject and the security of property increased in the countries of Europe, the circulation of the metals became more active, and their abundance, as a circulating medium, became farther enhanced by the use of paper as money, and the more extended system of alloy introduced into the currencies of Europe. In latter years the cessation of wars not only stopped the demand for gold for military chests and extraordinary expenses, but promoted general confidence in other property than the

precious metals. The tenacity with which these latter are still clung to in the interior of Europe is manifest in the hoards that are produced by apparently beggarly emigrants that arrive in our sea-ports. Year by year the absorption of the metals by hoarding is diminishing, while causes are in operation vastly to enhance the supply. -The chief sources for the supply of silver are the mines of Mexico and Peru, and the quicksilver mines of Almaden, in Spain. The product of the latter is indispensable to the advantageous working of the former, and the greatest political difficulties overshadow both. The mines of Peru, in relation to which the most exaggerated notions have ever been entertained, have of late became unimportant. The chief mine, that of Potosi, formerly so productive, is now supposed to have run out. There are other valuable mines in operation, but the anarchy which prevails in that unhappy country prevents much from being realized. At the commencement of the present century, Humboldt estimated their product at $6,240,000 per annum; but at present, owing to the insecure state of affairs, it is not more than half that sum.

In Mexico, before the war of independence, there were 3000 mines, producing $21,000,000 in silver and $2,000,000 in gold annually. This has now dwindled down to some 11,000,000 of both metals, notwithstanding that the resources are as great as ever. The business of the mines is followed as an hereditary employment by migratory native tribes, a worthless, brutalized and dishonest race. These beings are employed by English companies, at the peril of their lives and property. M. Chevalier states, that the mines are "guarded by artillery and grape-shot, and the Englishmen employed are regularly drilled in the use of the musket." He gives an account of a grand battle fought between the miners and banditti, in which the former were overpowered by numbers. Laboring in such insecurity, the miners are dependent upon the quicksilver mines of Almaden, in Spain, for a supply of that necessary article, and are exposed to the exactions of a government which can afford them no security in the production of the taxed commodity.

The progress of political affairs now

is such, as to lead to the reasonable expectation, that a stable and strong government will succeed to the miserable military anarchy, which, for such a length of time, has oppressed that region. With the consummation of such an event, the product of the precious metals in Mexico may become almost incalculable. As an instance of the condition of things, one of the richest gold mines in the world is at Consalo, Mexico, and is the property of Signor Yriarte, who refuses to have it worked, alleging, it is stated, that he has now more than he can use, and his "money is safest under ground."

One of the greatest events in the supply of the precious metals, is the productions of the Russian mines. These, in 1830, produced 5 poods, worth $9,945. This annually increased, until in 1843 it reached 1,610 poods, which, at 36lbs. per pood, equals 57,960lbs., worth $320 per lb., or $18,547,200, and has since continued to swell in amount. In the month of June. £2,000,000, or $10,000,000 worth of Russian gold was received at London, and went to swell the deposites in the Bank of England, which are now $82,000,000. The resources of the Ural mountains are vast, and private enterprise has but lately applied itself to their development. We have seen that the U. States mines have raised their annual supply to $1,000,000 since 1830. In the last 15 years the mines of Russia, being new sources of supply, have yielded $65,000,000 of gold. In the next 15 years, should the affairs of Mexico be settled, the product from the three sources will not be less than $575,000,000 of gold; and the Mexican silver mines being restored to at least their former productions, will yield $25,000,000 per annum. An important element in the increased production of the precious metals is the increased supply of quicksilver. As we have mentioned, the chief supply has hitherto been derived from Almaden, a mine which was worked by the Romans, and has ever been a monopoly, farmed out by the Spanish government. The Messrs. Barings and Rothchilds, of London, have alternately held it. The product is estimated at 20,000 quintals per annum. This was bid for at the rate of $65 per quintal, and is resold at near $100 pr quintal. This monopoly greatly contracts the supply of the precious metals, inasmuch