COINAGE, AMERICAN

The present (1923) metallic money of the United States consists of gold coins in denominations of $2.50, $5, $10 and $20; silver dollars, half-dollars, quarters and dimes; nickel five-cent pieces and copper cents. The gold coins have a weight of 25.8 grains to the dollar, silver dollars 412.5 grains, the smaller silver coins 385.8 grains to the dollar, the nickels 77.16 grains, and the cent piece 48 grains. The gold and silver dollar coins are unlimited as to i ue and as legal tender, and are receivable for all public dues. The minor silver coins are legal tender up to $10 and the nickels and cents up to 25 cents. i The federal constitution endows Congre with the exclusive right to coin money and regulate its value. This right is the prerogative of an established government and a foremost mark of sovereignty. Coinage needs the authority of the State, but a government must exercise its good faith in i uing it and safeguard its face value by the amount of gold, silver or copper used in the minting of each piece. Government mints have arisen to secure uniformity of the coin in its manufacture and to maintain its integrity in circulation. States and individuals are forbidden to coin money. Coins that have not been made at at government mint are spurious and their manufactures and utterance a crime against the United States. The proce es of manufacturing a good counterfeit, however, are so complex that secret manufacture rarely escapes detection in time. As the wear and tear of coins in circulation from hand to hand slowly obliterates the design and reduces weight, coinage legislation fixes the stage of wear at which a coin loses its legal value. American gold coins are legal tender only by weight when they lose more than one half of one per cent of their weight in 20 years from date of i ue. When received back into government channels they are despatched to the mint and recoined. The coinage is kept in good condition generally by periodic withdrawals from circulation of worn pieces. Coins of certain dates il be called in and replaced by new ones, but the government notifies the public that after a certain period such coins not called in will lose their par value as legal tender. Private bullion is converted into coin at the government mints, sometimes free. Gratuitous coinage of bullion brought to the mint by individuals prevails both in the United States and England as ‘promoting the transformation of bullion into coin to meet trade demands. The present regulations for the minting of United States coinage dates from 1900, when a currency measure was pa ed which ended a long struggle between political parties over the standard of value.