UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. AREA, exclusive of Texas and Oregon, estimated at 2,300,000 square miles. = Ordinary estimate of Bituminous Coal-28 bushels = 1 ton of 2240 lbs. do. do. At Richmond coal pits the common measure is 5 pecks to a bushel. The four peck bushel weighs 72 lbs., and the ton contains 31 bushels and 8 lbs. In the south, bituminous coal is sold by the barrel, weighing 1723 lbs. There are, therefore, 13 barrels to 1 ton of coal. In the anthracite trade the prevailing standard is by the ton of 2240 lbs. Occasionally, in retailing, the ton is only 2000 lbs. ; it is so quoted at New York, Cleveland, &c. On the State Canal, and the Tide-water Canal, the toll is levied per 1000 lbs. of coal. Foreign bituminous coals are, or were, commonly sold by the chaldron of 36 bushels. A chaldron of these coals weighs 25 cwt. A bushel, measured when dry, weighs 84 or 85 lbs. ; but in Pennsylvania, in Ohio, at Cleveland, and several other places, the bushel is equivalent to 80 lbs. What used to be sold under the denomination of a Newcastle chaldron, weighed 2 tons and 13 cwt. The Nova Scotia chaldron is 1 tons, or 3360 lbs. of 42 bushels; but the measurement yields 48 bushels. The Boston retail chaldron is commonly 2500 lbs., but sometimes 2700 lbs. The tariff duty was levied on the chaldron of 2880 lbs. or 36 bushels of 80 lbs. each. * American Almanac, 1847. 1 Mexican or Texas Vara, represents 33 English inches, 0 mèt. 847 French. Ofr. 5c. 35. United States Currency. 4s. 1d.=5fr. 35c. [4s. 16dec.] Par value of 1 United States dollar in London, 47 pence. = £1 sterling $4.84 nearly, = 25fr. 89 cents, to 25.76, legal value. 1 shilling, English, $0.24c.20. The value of the 5 franc piece is fixed by Congress at 93 cents. Previous to the 31st July, 1834, the American eagle contained 270 grains of standard gold, viz. 247 grains pure, and 23 grains alloy. By the Act of Congress of that date, the weight of the eagle was reduced to 258 grains, of which 232 are pure gold, and 26 alloy. In consequence of this alteration, the sovereign, or pound sterling, that was formerly worth $4.57 cents, is now worth $4.83.8 cents.* Under the present American system, it is believed that gold is over-valued from 1 to 1 per cent. Money. "The mode still adhered to by many of quoting exchange between the United States and London, is both obscure and absurd; as the premium or discount is founded upon the false, or nominal par of $4.44, instead of the true par of $4.86." In the calculation of duties at the United States custom-houses, since 14th July, 1832, the value of the pound sterling is fixed by law at $4.84. The banks receive and pay out sovereigns at $4.85.† Among the "Documens sur le Commerce exterieur," of France, published in June, 1843, occurs the following passage relative to the pound sterling. "In 1842, an Act of Congress, of the 27th July, fixed the legal value of the pound sterling at $4.84, [= 25fr. 89cts.] for the conversion, in American currency, of prices to foreign agents, and for payments into the American treasury. Previously, this value was $4.44 [=23fr. 75c.] a rate that the American treasury had substituted, in 1840, for that of $4.80, [=25fr. 68c.] established by law of the 2d March, 1799."‡ * Bicknell's Gold Chart. Also, Moore's "Philadelphia Price Current." † New York Journal of Commerce, Oct. 1839. In continuation of this subject, we insert the following illustrative note: A COMMERCIAL ABSURDITY.-The current quotations, as 7, 8, or 9 per cent. premium for exchange on England, which we see in the newspapers, do not mean a premium on the par value of the pound sterling, but on a fictitious valuation of the pound which prevailed The weight of the Spanish and American dollar is 416 grains troy. 100 dollars, therefore, are equal to 211,742 Sicca rupees. or, deducting the duty, to 207,508 Sicca rupees.* The dollar is a legal tender, at the price of 4s. 4d. English currency, in the East Indies. Value of Foreign Moneys. AS TAKEN AT THE CUSTOM-HOUSE IN NEW YORK, IN 1846.† IN GENERAL use, in RELATION TO COAL, IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. In our progress through this section of our work, it has been our endeavour, when reporting on given amounts of coal, whether anthracite or bituminous, to render them in bne uniform standard. We have effected this, at the cost of much extra labour, and have brought out the results in a common denomination-that of WEIGHT. We have done so under the conviction that, sooner or later, that principle must be universally complied in this country a century ago, when the States were colonies. For example, the pound sterling, or gold sovereign, is to-day worth $4.85 in Wall street, which is about the par value as established by law of Congress. A thousand of them would be worth $4850. The current rate of exchange on England in Wall street is now about nine per cent. premium, as the phrase is, for bills payable in London or Liverpool. But this premium is not on $4.85, the par value of the pound, nor yet on the pound sterling, but it is on $4.44, the old colonial value of the pound. For example, A. B. buys a bill of exchange for £1000 on England, from C. D., at 9 per cent. premium; he pays $4844.44 for it. Suppose he gave a thousand sovereigns for it, at current value, there would be a balance in his favor, so that, in reality, the rate of exchange on England, instead of being nine per cent. against us, is in our favor, because bills can be obtained cheaper than gold. Of course, then, there is no object in sending gold to England. Hence the absurdity of this ideal mode of dealing in exchange on England, which is still kept up by our merchants and newspapers. * Hand Book of India, 1844, p 65. + Williams's Statistical Companion, 1846. |