Operations of the United States Mint-Coinage of 1852. 605 States to exchange the many comforts and advantages they now enjoy, and perform the arduous and dangerous jour ney over the plains, for the certain privations and uncertain advantages of a home in the wilderness. ART. X-HOME AND FOREIGN COMMERCE. UNITED STATES MINT STATISTICS SINCE 1790-MISSISSIPPI BONDS-COINAGE LAW OF 1852SILVER COIN-STATISTICS OF COTTON TRADE-MASSACHUSETTS RAILROAD, BANK AND FACTORY BLOCKS-COMMERCE, WILMINGTON, N. C.-CANADIAN CURRENCY. OPERATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES The total amount deposited for coinMINT. The coinage at the principal age was $56,788,479; of which there mint, during the year 1852, amounted was in gold, $55,717,488, and in silver, to $52,403,669 44; of which $51,505,- $1,070,991. 638 50 were in gold, $847,410 in silver, and 50,630 94 in copper. This coinage was comprised in 32,612,949 piecesbeing the largest number ever before struck at the mint in a single year. The deposits received were $50,874,131 in gold, and $952,297 in silver; making a total of $51,826,428. The coinage at the branch mint, New Orleans, amounted to $4,622,000; of which $4,470,000 were in gold, and $152,000 in silver. The number of pieces struck was 1,418,000. The deposits were $3,935,668 in gold, and $118,694 in silver; total $4,054,362. The coinage of the branch mint, Charlotte, North Carolina, amounted to $396,734 in gold-comprised in 91,780 pieces. The deposits were $430,900 in gold. The coinage of the branch mint, Dahlonega, Georgia, amounted to $473,815 in gold-comprised in 101,890 pieces. The deposits were $476,789 in gold. The total coinage at the four mints was $57,896,218 44; of which there was -in gold $56,846,187 50, in silver $999,410, and in copper $50,630 94. This coinage was comprised in 34,224,619 pieces. MINTS. The deposits of gold received from mines in the United States amounted to $54,506,963; of which there was from California the sum of $53,794,700; from other states of the Union, $712.263. During the year 1851, the amount of gold received from California was $55,938,232; from other states, $602,380; total domestic gold, $56,540,612. Hence it appears that the receipts from California in 1852 fell short of those in 1851 by $2,143,532, while those from other states of the Union were increased by $109,883. The coinage of three-cent pieces amounted to $559,905, which was 56 per cent. of the total coinage of silver. The demand for this piece has not been due to its intrinsic importance in currency, but to the fact that it is the only one whose proportionate value to gold allows of its issue from the mint, under present laws. The necessity of some legislation, which, by readjusting the proportionate weights of the gold and silver coins, shall admit of the issue and permanent circulation of the latter, is becoming every day more imperative. SUMMARY EXHIBIT OF THE COINAGE OF THE MINTS TO THE CLOSE OF 1852. Copper coinage. Philadelphia... .1793....$194,876,142 00..$65,795,018 90..$1,446,457 Charlotte... Dahlonega Total.. 33,885,865 00.. 13,166,800 00.. Entire coinage.- 39..385,078,778..$262,117,618 29 .$237,030,485 00..$78,961,818 90..$1,446,457 39..431,555,396..$317,438,761 29 MISSISSIPPI BONDS.-We wish that for such a paper, and it would do much some citizen of the state would prepare good. At present, we can only furnish for our pages a full history of the bonds a few statistics from a writer in the question, with all the arguments pro and Bankers' Magazine: con in regard to it. We are anxious 500,000 500,000 Statement of the Planters' Bank Bonds, issued by the State of Mississippi. 1831. July 1. 500 bonds, $1000 each, payable July 1, 1841, $500,000 1833. March 1. 500 bonds, $1000 each, payable March 1, 1861 (twenty-eight years), 1833. March 1. 500 bonds, $1000 each, payable March 1, 1866 (thirty-three years), 1833. March 1. 500 bonds, $1000 each, payable March 1, 1871 (thirty-eight years), Total bonds issued, Interest to 1854. Interest on first issue of $500,000, from July 1, 1840, to July 1, 1854 (fourteen years), Interest on the bonds, dated March 1, 1833, $1,500,000, from September 1, 1840, to September 1, 1854, (fourteen years), 500,000 $2,000,000 420,000 1,260,000 3,680,000 161,920 $3,518,080 The Planters' Bank of Mississippi was chartered in the year 1830, with a capital of three millions of dollars, and by the first clause in that charter, the amount of two millions of that stock was reserved for the state, and the remaining one million for individual subscription. The books were regularly opened and the stock subscribed accordingly. The bonds of the state were issuedthe first five hundred thousand dollars (500,000) on the 1st July, 1831, and payable ten years after date. The remaining fifteen hundred thou sand dollars were issued on the 1st March, 1833, and payable as follows: Five hundred thousand dollars 1st March, 1861, Five hundred thousand dollars $500,000 500,000 500,000 All of them bearing interest at six per cent. per annum. Commissioners were appointed to negotiate the bonds, who succeeded in doing so at a premium of thirteen and one-quarter per cent. (134), so that after paying two millions to the Planters' Bank, the state had left, and after defraying all expenses attending the negotiation, the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000). This sum was placed in the Planters' Bank as a sinking fund, and was to be added to by the dividends of the bank on the state stock, from which fund money was to be drawn semiannually to pay the interest on the state bonds. The bank's dividends averaged ten per cent. for a number of years, and the interest on the bonds was regularly paid up to 1st of September, 1839, when the state stock in the Planters' Bank was transferred to the Natchez Railroad Company. At this period the "Sinking Fund," created by the dividends on the stock over what was required to pay the interest on the state bonds, reached nearly eight hundred thousand dollars. This fund belonged to the state, and, under the charter of the bank, was controlled by the auditor of the state, and president and cashier of the bank. A very large portion of this fund was lost by the general bankruptcy of 1836-39; what was left of it, however, was taken possession of by a commissioner appointed by the state, who received, with the bills receivable, about sixty thousand dollars in cash. This money is now in the state treasury, together with about an equal sum collected by the commissioner since the fund was transferred. What disposition is to be made of the funds remains to be seen. CALCULATION UPON PAYING $250,000 ANNOALLY, FOR TWENTY-TWO YEARS, IN LIQUIDATION OF THE PLANTERS' BANK BONDS. Am't of bonds outstanding in 1854. Annual int. Total am't of Annual ap. int, up to priation 1854. from 1854. Years $1,912,000.....$114,720..$1,606,080. $250,000..1854 1,912,000. 114,720.. 1,470,800.. 250,000..1855 1,912,000.... 114,720.. 1,335,520, 250,000..1856 Planters' Bank Bonds-Scheme for their Liquidation. 607 Calculation of the Planters' Bank Bonds, continued. improved prices. California and Australia have both required large supplies Am't of bonds Annual int. Total am't of Annual apthereafter. int. up to 1854, propriation outstanding in 1834. from 1854. Years, of coin, and these have been drawn $1,912,000....$114,720..$1,200,240..$250,000..1857 from England and the United States. 1,912,000.... 114,720.. 1,064,960.. 250,000..1858 The demand for silver was naturally 1,912,000. 114,720.. 929,680.. 250,000..1859 1,912,000.. 114,720.. 794,400.. 250,000..1860 more urgent than for gold, because being 1,912,000. 114,720.. 659,120.. 250,000..1861 of lower denominations it enters more 114,720.. 114,720.. 114,720.. 1,912,000. 1,912,000.. 1,912,000. 1,912,000.. 114,720.. 523,840.. 250,000..1862 into practical currency than the dearer 388,560.. 250,000..1863 253,280 250,000..1864 metals. Hence, gold dollars and quar118,000.. 250,000..1865 ter eagles have aided much in the ab 250,280..1866 250,540..1870 250,280..1873 250,580..1867 sence of silver. To impose a seignorage 250,040..1868 upon the coinage of these pieces is to en250,200..1869 hance the demand for silver. This de250,600..1871 mand the government has now begun to 250,980..1872 supply, and so by out-bidding every body 250,220.1874 else for the raw material. Thus, Mexi250,460..1875 car dollars have been worth 4 to 44 per 104,940..1876 ct. premium. The mint offers 5 per cent. For other coin that was worth 3 to 3% premium, the government offers 4 per cent., paying either in gold or new silver coin, at the option of the holder. The operation is thus, for 480 grs., or one ounce, of standard silver, the government gives $1.21, or for 100 ounces, $121, and pays in depreciated silver coin, as follows: THE NEW COINAGE LAW OF UNITED STATES. In our last number we gave the official notice of the purchase of silver by the department, for the manufacture of the new silver coin for circulation. The notice indicated that those South American and Mexican coins which approached nearest to the United States standard, together with the thalers of Northern Germany, the mint will buy at $1.21 per ounce. The leading provisions of the coinage bill are, first: the weight of the coin is to be reduced from 20614 grains per half dollar to 192 grains-that is to say, 7 per cent. The government alone deposits silver for coinage. Not over $5 in silver to be a legal tender. Depositors of gold may have it cast into ingots of standard fineness, of weights from one to five ounces, without extra charge. If coined, half per cent. seignorage is charged. With the establishment of an assay office in New-York, where these ingots may be assayed and cast, at one quarter per cent, less than coin, in addition to the saving of the expense and delay of sending to Philadelphia, a considerable margin will be established in favor of exporting ingots rather than coin, amounting to a premium upon exporting the gold rather than using it as a currency. The effect of this is to increase the demand for silver. It is obvious that the great demand for circulation which everywhere exists, arises from the large production of goods and merchandise, the activity of trade and From United States Economist. This is an odd way of paying a premium-viz., taking a quantity of silver and giving back a less quantity; but the holder of the silver can do better. There is no doubt but that the new coin on their first appearance will command a premium, as gold dollars and three cent pieces did for a short time. If, however, the government should pay in gold, the depositor will, indeed, have an advantage of the one-half per cent. coinage over the person who deposits gold to be coined. It is also the case that the mint will now pay out to depositors of gold, the silver which belongs to them. The silver in these deposits averages about four-fifths of one per cent., and the whole amount was returned in gold, the mint reserving the silver bullion to itself. The rule established at the mint was, that depositors of mixed bullion should receive the return in the description which constitutes its principal value. There would be no hardship in this, if the market value of gold and silver coin agreed with the legal value as recognized by the mint. But this is not the case. For instance, a certain bank in Wall-street deposits every two weeks in the mint about bank-notes have, by supplanting it in circulation, aided to drive it out. The import and export of the metals from 1821 to 1852, inclusive, have been as follows: $400,000 in bullion; from this there is parted $3,500 in silver, and the balance is gold. The bank is then paid in gold coin, the mint reserving the silver, although it charges the bank the whole cost of parting it. The bank had then to take the gold coin and purchase silver coin for its own use at the counter, at a premium of 3 to 4 per cent. This involved a loss to the bank of, say $122.50 on every deposit. This is now changed, and the mint will pay out the silver to the rightful owner. Gold bullion. $6,913,079.. Total gold.....$99,194,248.. $41,885,283. $58,298,965 Silver coin.... 163,188,117..140,607,617. 22,580,500 The demand which has existed for silver currency has been more marked in those countries where silver is the exclusive standard, than here, where issues of small gold coins and small years-as follows: Hence, since the discovery of gold, the calling in of the gold currency of the current of silver has been outward Holland, and substituting silver. The in the extent of over $8,000,000, because American eagles figured next in importthe increased demand for circulation ance; but, henceforth, probably "ingots" abroad has not, as in the United States, will embrace American gold. The been met by a supply of small notes and comparative coinage of France, England, gold pieces. We are now to export gold and the United States, for 1851, was as ingots, in place of those eagles which, follows: to a very considerable extent, returned into the country in the pockets of immigrants, from whom a demand exists for them in the European ports. The ingots will probably return, if they return at all only in the shape of foreign coin. Thus the gold coinage of France for 1851, was from the following material: COINAGE AT THE FRENCH MINT, PARIS, 1851. Value of the gold coinage... France. France. Gold. Silver. Total. . $48,276,650..$11,449,980..$59,726,530 424,766 21,556,738 G. Britain... 21,121,972 U. States.... 62,614,492 774,397 63,388,889 The coinage in England was doubled in 1852, with a simultaneous great decrease of coin in bank; and this fact has led to the question of the expediency of imposing a seignorage upon coinage, with the view of preventing the Eng57,249,908 65 lish mint from manufacturing coin for all the world. This seems to be a short..298,632,680 87 sighted notion. If the coins of any country are exported to such an extent 74,865.304 67 as to enter into the currencies of other na37,819,312 98 tions with which it deals, it follows that, .241,382,772 22 Total of the silver coinage.. 30,406,320 26 8,283,372 85 with the turn in exchanges, the remit1,651,961 32 tances to it will be made in its own coin 88,356,500 14 -a most desirable form. The want of a 241,382,772 22 mint in the United States for many years operated in favor of England. When 10,135,873 52 exchanges were in favor of the United .43,115,238 37 States, English sovereigns came here and remained in bank vaults until the Details of the Silver Coinage. Ingots and sundry coins. Total of silver.... 3,998,796 76 .57,249,908 65 exchanges carried them back, in many The Dutch florins were furnished by cases without even having been opened. Import and Export of Silver-Statistics of Cotton Trade. 609 SILVER COIN. The scarcity of silver coin in England has been brought to the notice of the Chancellor of the Exchequer by a Parliamentary inquiry. He stated in reply that the demand for gold was so pressing that there was no chance of their being able to apply the mint to silver coinage. Half a million sovereigns per week were now being turned out; that was to say, about twice as much as was supposed to be the regular work of the mint, and means were being taken to increase that supply in order to meet the demand for sovereigns, of the diminution of which there was no immediate prospect. With respect to silver, something he hoped had been done to mitigate that demand. During January £92,000 of silver coinage was struck, which was a very considerable amount, and the Government was not given to suppose that the want was now extreme; but at all events more would be done to meet that want as soon as the demand for gold would allow. The London Economist of March 5th, contained an interesting article on the operation of the British mint, from which we glean the following pertinent facts and figures. Since 1848, the aggregate coinage of the mint has been £19,838,375, of which £19,264,473 was gold, £561,594 was silver, and £12,308 copper. The disparity of silver coinage is apparent at a glance. The coinage of gold each year was as follows: 1848. 1849. 1850. 1851 1852. 2,177,955 coined in the five years, no less than £13,142,681 was coined in the two last years. The transactions of the mint have assumed a new and novel character since the recent gold discoveries. Its operations are no longer limited to the supply of the home demand for circulation. In about two years a sum equal to nearly £15,000,000 has been exported in the shape of English coin. No doubt a considerable portion, probably not less than one-half, of the whole of this large amount, fully equal to the other half, has been exported to various foreign countries, where English sovereigns have acquired a certain value as a circulating medium, and where, therefore, they have a somewhat higher price than bar gold. In view of this state of things, the Economist thinks the character and functions of the mint will be entirely changed; and in such a way as will render it imperative that the principles upon which its expenses are defrayed should be reconsidered. If the mint is to become a great manufactory of coins for various foreign countries, as it has been during the last two years, it will soon become obvious that there is no good reason why the people of England should continue to defray the cost of that establishment. It will become a matter of serious consideration whether that cost should not be defrayed by a charge on the coin equivalent at least to its amount. STATISTICS OF THE COTTON TRADE.£2,451,999 We are indebted to H. C. Beach and Co., Commission Merchants, of New-York, for 4,400,411 some very valuable statistical charts 8,742,270 relating to the fluctuations in prices of The silver coinage has amounted to raw material and manufactured goods £561,594 in the five years, in the follow- during the last and previous years. The ing proportion in each year:charts are on the plan of those now being applied to life statistics, etc., and give, £35,442 through the eye, a ready aid to the un129,096 derstanding. We copy the following 87,868 tables, which will be of great use to planters and merchants. 1848.. 1819. 1850. 1851. 1852. 119,592 189,596 The large amount of silver coinage during the last year, compared with any former year, at least shows that the great inconvenience which has been experienced from a scarcity of silver coin has not arisen from any decline in the work of the mint, notwithstanding the great additional work which it has been called upon to perform in furnishing gold coin. Of the entire £19,264,437 of gold Fair Upland Cotton-Average price in New-York for 1847, 11.67 cents; 1848, 7.14 cents; 1849, 8.97 cents; 1850, 13.65 cents; 1851, 11.94 cents; 1852, 10.17 cents. Average price for the above six years, 10.44. Heavy Brown Sheetings.-Average price in New-York for 1847, 8.00 cents; 1848, 6.84 cents; 1849, 6.68 cents; 1850, 7.81 cents; 1851, 7.11 cents; 1852, 7.05 cents. Average for above 6 years, 7.25. |