Under the 1792 standards, one always had to differentiate whether any given discussion involved pure metals or standard metals, since the standards of the two monetary metals differed. With the same purity standards, comparisons between the two metals would remain at all times proportional, whether one was comparing pure gold-to-pure silver or standard gold-to-standard silver. Well, in 1837, all that convoluted figuring became obsolete, because both silver and gold were both finally established in the same purity standard-.900-fineness. To this was added to the 179 parts of copper specified in the Act, to make the odd and even persnickety 1,485/1,664ths silver standard (1,485 + 179 = 1,664). To find silver’s purity standard, one needed only multiply the pure silver weight (371.25) by 4 to get rid of the decimal, which resulted in 1,485 parts of pure silver (371.25 X 4 = 1,485). Or, said another way, equal parts of pure gold and pure silver made the gold parts 15 times more valuable.įor example, one dollar’s worth of pure gold-24.75 grains-was obviously equal monetarily in 1792 to one dollar’s worth of pure silver, at 371.25 grains (24.75 X 15 = 371.25). Recall that the 1792 Coinage Act established every part of pure gold to be monetarily worth 15 parts of pure silver. The 1837 gold coins were simply struck closer towards a guaranteed perfection.
#Coinage act of 1873 full
What was legal in 1837 was easily within what had been made legal in 1834, where and when the full ramifications of gold-to-silver valuation rates had been considered. Since the new minimum and maximum weight and minimum and maximum purity of gold coins easily fell within the 1834 standards, the 1837 gold coins did not need new regulated values.
9166 to equal 866.25 grains of pure gold (which, by the 1792 equivalent rate of 24.75 grains of pure gold/dollar, equaled $35.00).Īs the comparisons readily show (by the converging of the 1837 standards towards a targeted middle weight ), the new standards of 1837 at all times stayed within the old 1834 standards (the upper weight tolerance was lower in 1837, and the lower weight tolerance higher, than their 1834 counterparts-showing a narrowing range of allowable weight, at all times in 1837, within the wider range earlier set in 1834). Multiple coins of the same monetary metal and in the same purity could also be weighed in bulk, just as easily.įor example, if five gold coins, in various denominations, all struck under the 1792 standard, together weighed 945 grains troy, then one only needed to multiply that weight by the appropriate purity standard of. Value could easily be determined, simply by weighing the coin in its standard weight and then calculating its monetary value by the coin’s known purity. The legal value of every coin in 1792 was dependent upon its actual weight, rather than target weight. Since purity was difficult to determine later, Congress went to great pains, even from the onset, to establish and ensure it within a narrow range (plus or minus 1/144th). Under the original 1792 Coinage Act, all coins of silver and gold were given legal values dependent upon their actual weight, of coins struck in defined standards of purity, with those values ultimately depending upon their weight of pure silver or pure gold.Ĭongress implemented precise standards for purity in 1792, but only issued target weights, without ever specifying minimum and maximum weight allowances. Since Congress didn’t establish new monetary valuations for gold in 1837, it is appropriate to show they were not needed, given its importance.
In other words, the 1837 change was too small to trigger a revaluation requirement under the 1834 Act. The reason Congress didn’t have to revalue gold coins in 1837, like members had to do in 1834, even though the target weight of pure gold again changed, is because the 1837 gold coins remained within the legal tolerances for weight and purity established by the 1834 Act. Congress also did not need to revalue gold coins in 1837, like they didn’t also with silver, even though the target amount of pure gold changed again, in the 1837 Act.
0 kommentar(er)
