eagle is far greater than that of all the other gold pieces of the country. The Philadelphia Mint is capable of turning out about $1,500,000 in coined money a month; the San Francisco Mint, $1,000,000; the Carson City Mint, $500,000; and the New Orleans Mint about 500,000 pieces of various denominations. Under the law of February 28, Its and 4,000,000 of the new ("Bland ") dollars should be turned out by the mints every month, the coining facilities of the government were severely tested to produce this particular silver coin, and maintain the usual supply of gold and subsidiary coins. Silver is sent from the assay offices to the mints pure, or 999 fine, which is about as pure as silver can be. It is sent in large bars, and, when received at the mint, is melted and alloyed with copper. Coin silver is 900 fine. 2. The eagle, or $10 piece. Its coinage was authorized by the Act of April 2, 1792. The weight was first established by law at 270 grains, but was changed forty-two years afterward, by the Act of June 28, 1834, to 258 | 1878, which required that between 2,000,000 grains, where it has remained ever since. fineness was in the beginning made 9163, but was changed by the Act of June 28, 1834, the same act that lowered its weight, to 899.225. Two years and a half subsequently its fineness was increased — less than one part in a thousand to 900. Its weight and fineness have remained thus fixed to the present day. 3. The half eagle, or $5 piece. This elegant coin has undergone the same vicissitudes as the eagle. Its coinage was authorized by The first silver coins were struck in 1794 the same Act of April 2, 1792. Its weight (authorized in 1792), at the Philadelphia Mint, was 135 grains, and its fineness 916. By the and consisted of 1,758 dollars, and 10,600 half Act of June 28, 1834, its weight was reduced dollars, and a few half dimes (5 cents), more to 129 grains, and its fineness to 899.225. By for curiosities than use. In the succeeding the Act of January 16, 1857, its fineness was year the issue was 203,033 dollars, 323,038 slightly raised to the uniform standard of 900. half dollars, no quarters, no dimes, and 86,416 Its weight and fineness have thus remained to half dimes. In 1796 the mint coined only our time. 72,920 dollars, and 3,918 half dollars, with 4. The quarter eagle, or $2.50 piece. This 2,948 quarters. In 1797 the number of dolfine coin belongs to the same family with the lars issued was 2,776, and the mint records eagle and half eagle. Its coinage was author state that there were no half dollars and only ized, its weight and fineness correspondingly 252 quarters. Dollars only were coined in altered, by the same acts. The statute of 1792 1798. In 1796 the head of Liberty was made its weight 67.5 grains and its fineness changed, and a new head, inferior in point of 916. Its weight was reduced to 64.5 grains comeliness, substituted. This also had flowand its fineness to 800.225 by the Act of 1834. ing locks, but these were bound by a broad The Act of 1837 raised its fineness to 900. fillet, and hence the name "fillet dollars." In 1798 there were no halves nor quarters, and there were none in 1799, nor again in 1800. But in the following year the half dollars were commenced again, being of the fillet series, with the heraldic eagle on the reverse. 5. The dollar. This pretty little gold piece was created by the Act of March 3, 1849, the same act that authorized the coinage of the double eagle. It has remained unchanged. Its weight is 25.8 grains and its fineness 900. 6. Three-dollar piece. An Act of February 21, 1853, established this irregular coin. Its weight, 77.4 grains, and its fineness 900, are of the normal standard, and have not been changed by subsequent acts. In gold coin the alloy was at first a compound of silver and copper. It was forbidden by statute that the alloy should be more than half silver. It is now nearly all copper, owing to advances in the art of assaying and improved methods in coinage. There are four coining mints, located at Philadelphia, Pa.; San Francisco, Cal.; Carson City, Nev.; and New Orleans, La., the last one being put in operation on January 20, 1879. The largest proportion of assaying and refining is done at New York city; Helena, Montana; Boisé City, Idaho; and Denver, Colorado. 1804 is the annus mirabilis of the American silver coins. According to the records, 19,570 dollars were issued, 156,519 halves, and 6,738 quarters. There are but two dollars of 1804 known to exist, and these are said to have been struck surreptitiously from the original die at the Philadelphia mint in 1827. The value of these two to numismaticians is enormous; as high as $1,000 has been refused for one of them. The first dollar pieces (1792) contained 416 grains of silver of 892.7 fineness, and this proportion was maintained until 1873, when the quantity of silver was reduced to 412.5 grains, and the fineness increased to 900. cent pieces, from 1792 to 1837, contained 208 grains, 892.7 fineness, and the twenty-five cent pieces a proportionate amount; and both were The fifty subjected to a reduction in number of grains benches in the market places of the principal and increase in fineness in 1873. The ten- towns. During the middle ages, in which cent pieces contained 41.6 grains, of standard commerce was but little developed, there could fineness, and now bear 38.58 grains under the be no field open for banking as a business; new standard of fineness. From 1851 to 1853, but on the revival of business in the twelfth the five-cent pieces were composed of 12.375 century, and when the cities of Italy engrossed grains, 750 fine, and from 1853 to 1873, when nearly all the trade of Europe, the necessity their coinage was abolished, 11.52 grains, 900 arose again for the employment of bankers. fine. The old copper cents, authorized in The successful manufacturing efforts of the 1792, contained 264 grains; the next year the Florentines brought them into commercial amount was reduced to 208, and three years dealings with different countries in Europe, later to 168. As a purely copper token this and thence arose the establishment of banks as coin was abolished shortly after the last reduc-private concerns. The earliest public bank tion in the number of grains. The two-cent established in modern Europe was that of piece of April, 1864, contained 96 grains of Venice, which was founded in 1157. About copper, zinc, and tin, and was discontinued in 1873. The half-cent pieces were established in 1792, containing 132 grains; this amount was reduced in 1793 to 104, and in 1796 to 84. None are coined now. An act of March, 1875, authorized the coinage of a silver twenty-cent piece, containing 77.16 grains, 900 fine. This coin being but a trifle smaller than the twentyfive cent piece, led to such a general confusion of the two, that in 1878 its coinage was stopped. But few are now found in circulation. The one-cent piece of present use was authorized in 1857, and consisted of 72 grains of copper and nickel, and in 1864 this composition was changed to 48 grains of copper, zinc, and tin. Finally, the five and three cent nickel pieces were authorized in 1866 and 1865 respectively; the latter has a comparatively small circulation. The amount of standard silver dollars coined from February 28, 1878, to October 31, 1882, was $128,329,880, of which $93,006,382 remained in the Treasury, and $35,323,498 was placed in circulation. Of the $30,007,175 coined in the thirteen months preceding October 31, 1882, $2,950,072 went into circulation, and $27,057,103 remained in the Treasury. The total value of the minor coin in the Treasury on September 1, 1882, was $504,515.29. The supply of five-cent nickel coins in the Treasury, which three years previous reached the sum of $1,184,252.95, had been exhausted, and their coinage was resumed by the mint. None of these coins are supplied by the Treasury, but the one-cent and five-cent pieces are furnished in multiples of $20 by the mint, which bears the expense of their transportation. BANKS. The term bank, in reference to commerce, signifies a place of deposit of money, and is derived from the Italian banco, a seat or bench, because the early custodians and dealers in money in Italy were accustomed to sit on the year 1350, the cloth merchants of Barcelona, then a wealthy body, added the business of banking to their other commercial pursuits; being authorized so to do by an ordinance of the King of Aragon, which contained the important stipulation that they should be restricted from acting as bankers until they should have given sufficient security for the liquidation of their engagements. In 1401 a bank was opened by the functionaries of the city, which was both a bank of deposit and of circulation, the first of the kind ever established in Europe. The Bank of Genoa was planned and partially organized in 1345, but was not brought into operation until 1407, when the numerous loans which the Republic had contracted with its citizens were consolidated, and formed the nominal capital stock of the bank. As security for its capital in the hands of the Republic, this bank, which was given the name of the Chamber of St. George, received in pledge the Island of Corsica, and several other dependencies of Genoa. Since 1800, when the French, besieged in Genoa, appropriated its treasure to the payment of their troops, the bank has had little other than a nominal existence. The banks of note next established, of which records remain, were opened in Holland and in Hamburg. The most celebrated of these was the Bank of Amsterdam, established in 1609, simply as a bank of deposit, under the guaranty of the city. The credit given in the bank for foreign coin and the worn coin of the country was called bank money, to distinguish it from current money of the place; and as the regulations directed that all bills drawn upon or negotiated at Amsterdam, of the value of 600 guilders and upwards, must be paid in bank-money, every merchant was obliged to keep an account with the bank, in order to make his ordinary payments. The Bank of Hamburg was established in 1619, on the model of that of Amsterdam originally. Deposits are received only in bullion, and a charge is made for their safe keeping. It ad- | vances money on jewels up to three fourths of their value. The city is responsible for all deposits, which may be sold at auction if they remain eighteen months without payment of charges. If the value is not claimed within three years, the property in the deposits is lost, and passes to the poor fund of the city. Next in point of date among these establishments is the Bank of England, which was opened in 1694. It was originally chartered for ten years, and the charter has since been prolonged, by various renewals, till August 1, 1879, and, from that date, subject to a year's notice. The Bank of England is, and always has been, the government bank, transacting for it all the banking business of the nation, receiving the produce of the taxes, loans, etc., and paying the interest of the public debt, the drafts of the Treasury, and other public departments, transferring stock, etc. For this service the bank receives, exclusive of the use of the balances of the public money in its hands, about £95,000 a year. The Bank of Vienna, established in 1703 as a bank of deposit and circulation, became a bank of issue in 1793. This institution now does comparatively little commercial business, being recognized as a means of the government for managing the public debt and finances. The Banks of Berlin and Breslau were founded in 1765 under the direct authority of the government. They are banks of deposit and issue, and also discount bills of exchange. In some important particulars the banking system of Germany resembles that of the United States, the Imperial Bank and its branches in nearly every town corresponding to the American chain of National Banks. The Imperial Bank enjoys an enormous monopoly of immunities and powers. Russian Banks. During the reign of the Empress Catharine, three different banks were established in St. Petersburg: the Loan Bank, the Assignation Bank, and the Loan Bank for the nobility and towns. The first, opened in 1772, made advances upon deposits of bulDown to 1797 the bank always had paid its lion and jewels, and allowed interest upon all notes on demand. But in 1796 and the early sums remaining for one year and over. At part of 1797, owing to rumors of a French in- present the operations of this bank are carried vasion, there was a run made on the bank, on for the benefit of the Foundling Hospital in and it was feared that a suspension was inevi- St. Petersburg. The Assignation Bank was table. In February, 1797, Mr. Pitt, appre-opened in St. Petersburg in 1768, and in Moshensive that he might not be able to obtain sufficient specie for foreign payments, in consequence of the low state of the bank reserve, procured the issue of an order in council, requiring the bank to suspend specie payments. The suspension lasted till 1819, and is known to writers on finance as "the period of the bank restriction." The bank's notes, how-gages, and to provide for their improvement. ever, continued to circulate, and a committee of the House of Commons reported soon after the suspension that the bank was not merely possessed of the most ample funds to meet all its engagements, but that it had a surplus stock, after the deduction of all demands, of no less than £15,513,000. The Bank of England is the custodian of the reserves of the several London banks and private bankers. These deposited reserves are, for the most part, loaned out by the bank. Then, again, the reserves of the country banks, and of the Scotch and Irish bankers as well, are deposited with the great English banks, which, in their turn, keep their reserves at the Bank of England. Therefore the reserve in the banking department of the Bank of England is the banking reserve not only of the Bank of England but of all London, and not only of all London, but of all England, Ireland, and Scotland. The credit system of Great Britain depends upon the security of the Bank of England. cow in 1770. It issues paper money, and is really an imperial institution. The Loan Bank, for the nobility and towns, advances money on real security, discounts commercial paper, and carries on an insurance business. In 1797 the Aid Bank was established for the purpose of advancing money to relieve estates from mort There is also the Commercial Bank of Russia, whose capital is declared to be sacred by the government, and free from all taxes, attachments, and calls from the State. It has numerous branches throughout the empire, receives deposits of coin and bullion, discounts paper, and makes advances upon merchandise of domestic production. The Bank of Stockholm was founded in 1688, when its direction was assumed by the Assembly of the States of the Kingdom of Sweden, and it became a bank of deposit, discount, and circulation. Since 1766, when the affairs of the bank fell to a very low state, and the Assembly assisted it with a large loan, a committee, composed of members of each of the three States, nobles, clergy, and burghers, is appointed triennially to inspect its condition, securities, and prospects. The Bank of France, originally formed in 1800, was placed on a solid basis in 1806, when its capital was raised to 90,000,000 charter extended to March 3, 1836. The bank was prohibited from lending, on account of the United States, more than $500,000, or to any prince or foreign power any sum whatever, without the sanction of law first obtained; and it was also prohibited from issuing bills of less francs. The bank is now the only authorized son, April 10, 1816, at Philadelphia. A source of paper money in France. Its charter capital of $35,000,000 was required, which and exclusive privileges have been conferred, was to be equally divided into 350,000 shares, varied, or continued by different governments of which the United States took 70,000. The and under various laws; the year 1897 was the time fixed at which the terms made with the bank by the public might be ended. The bank has branches scattered throughout all the departments. Besides discounting, the Bank of France advances upon deposits of stock and pledges of a miscellaneous kind. It denomination than $5. In time, to facilitate also undertakes the safe custody of valuables. A council of twenty-one members conducts the direction of affairs, viz.: a governor and two sub-governors, who are to be nominees of the head of the government; fifteen directors and three censors, nominated by the shareholders. UNITED STATES BANKS. The first United States bank was established by Act of Congress, approved July 25, 1791. It was organized at Philadelphia, with a capital of $10,000,000, divided into 25,000 shares of $400 each. The act prescribed that any person, copartnership, or body politic might subscribe for any number of shares not exceeding 1,000 only the United States could subscribe for more than this number of shares; that with the exception of the United States the subscriptions should be payable one fourth in gold and silver, and the remaining three fourths in certain six per cent. bonds of the United States; that the subscribers should be incorporated under the name of "The President, Directors, and Company of the Bank of the United States," and the organization should continue until March 4, 1811; that the bank could hold property of all kinds, inclusive of its capital, to the amount of $15,000,000; that twenty-five directors should be chosen, who in turn should choose from their number a President; that as soon as $400,000 in gold and silver was received on subscription, the bank could organize, after giving a notice of its intention. The general effect of this institution was very salutary. The credit of the United States became firmly established. The bank notes stood at par with gold and silver. The large deposits made the money available for the use of the Treasury, and the State bank currency, which had flooded the country with no prospects of redemption, was greatly reduced. But with all its recognized advantages, the act to recharter was defeated in 1811 by the casting vote of the Vice-President, George Clinton. Its loss, however, was immediately felt in the sudden and rapid increase of the currency of the State banks. To ward off an impending crisis, a second bank was established by an act approved by President Madi business, branch offices were established in every state. In December, 1829, however, the bank met strenuous opposition in the message of President Jackson, who argued, as did Jefferṛson when the first bank was started, against the constitutionality of its charter; and when Congress, in 1832, passed a bill to recharter the institution he imposed his veto, and soon after removed from the bank the United States deposits. The bank corporation, however, continued to exist until 1836, when the charter terminated. The The National Banking System was created by Congress in the belief that it was the best permanent method of securing paper money absolutely safe from loss to the holder and readily convertible into coin. Under the laws of the United States any number of persons not less than five may form an association and obtain a charter for the purpose of carrying on the business of a national bank. capital stock of a national banking association is divided into shares of $100 each, and in cities of 50,000 population, or over, no association can be organized with a less capital than $200,000; in cities of less than 50,000, $100,000 capital is required, but, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, national banks may be organized in places of less than 6,000 inhabitants with a capital of $50,000. National banks are authorized to discount and negotiate notes, drafts, etc.; to receive deposits; to buy and sell exchange, coin, and bullion; to loan money on personal security, and to issue circulating notes. They are prohibited from making loans on real estate, or on security of their own shares of capital, except to secure debts previously contracted, and real estate purchased or mortgaged to secure a pre-existing debt cannot be held for a longer period than five years Every national bank, before it is authorized to commence business, must transfer to the Treasurer of the United States registered bonds, bearing interest, to an amount not less than one fourth of the capital stock paid in, as security for its circulating notes. Banks having a capital of more than $150,000 shall be required to deposit bonds to the amount of one third of their capital stock. Upon a deposit of registered bonds, the association making the same will receive from the Comptroller of the Currency circulating notes of different denominations, in blank, equal in amount to ninety per cent. of the current market value, not exceeding par, of the bonds so deposited. as the amount of deposits increases, claiming that their vast aggregates of deposits cannot be invested, under the law, in a manner that will warrant the maximum rate of interest after paying current expenses. From Philadelphia the original conception or plan of the savings bank extended all over the United States, throughout the United Kingdom, France, and other countries. Several Acts of Parliament were successively passed between 1817 and 1828 for the regulalation of savings banks in England; and in the year last mentioned the whole of these were consolidated in one statute (9 Geo. IV., chap. 92). This Act, together with another passed in 1833, conferring additional and im The national banks pay to the United States a tax of one per cent. annually upon the average amount of their notes in circulation, one half per cent. annually upon the average amount of their deposits, and one half per cent. annually upon the average amount of capital not invested in United States bonds. Banks other than national pay taxes to the United States on account of their circulation, deposits, and capital at the same rates as are paid by the na-portant privileges on savings banks (3 Will. tional banks. IV., chap. 14), constitutes the existing law relative to these establishments. In 1835 the Act was extended to Scotland. SEIGNIORAGE. This term, as used in the United States, means the profit arising from the coinage of bullion. The government does not purchase gold bullion, but coins it on private account. There is no profit from the coinage of gold bullion, the face value of gold coins being the same as their bullion value; but at the present ratio of 16 to 1, the face value of the silver dollar is greater than its bullion value; therefore, when silver bullion is purchased and coined into dollars there is a profit arising from such coinage, the amount of which depends upon the price paid for the bullion. example, there are 371 1-4 grains of pure silver in a dollar, and there are 480 grains of pure silver in a fine ounce. The coinage value of a If the fine fine ounce is therefore $1.2929 ounce can be purchased for seventy cents, the profit of its coinage (the seigniorage) is $0.5929, and the profit on the 371 1-4 grains of pure silver in the single dollar is $0.4586 For Savings Banks.-These are banks for receiving and taking charge of small sums, the savings of industry, and were instituted for the benefit of workmen and others, who were able to spare a little from their earnings. It is believed that Quaker thrift in Philadelphia, Pa., led to the inception of the idea, and that the first savings bank in the world was founded in that city in 1816. As the scheme grew in popularity throughout the United States, guardians of minor children, administrators of estates of deceased persons, and other holders of trust funds, found the savings banks very serviceable as places of deposit for money that had to be laid away for a specified period of time. Hence, the exigencies of business transactions forced an innovation upon the original plan. In the United States this use of savings banks is still maintained; but during the past fifteen years Safe Deposit and Trust Companies have been numerously established for the special purpose of holding funds, both in trust and in legal dispute, besides securities of all kinds, jewelry, diamonds, and articles of like value. Thus a guardian, an administrator, or a society will invest money in Government, State, or City bonds, or, if permitted by the terms of trust, in real estate, or stock of various corporations, and place the bond, certificate of stock, or other acknowledgment of the indebtedness, with a Safe Deposit or Trust Company, for MONEY IN THE UNITED STATES. safe-keeping. The savings banks are allowed by law to invest their money in first-class securities only, so as to prevent their officers from using the fund in the irregular pursuit of "wild-cat" speculation. which is the difference between the actual cost of the bullion in the dollar and the nominal value of the coin. Year. 1880 per Money Capita. tion per 1860 $442,102,477 $435,407,252 675,212,794 38,558,371 18.73 17.50 1890 1,205,929,197 The average rate of interest allowed by savings banks in the United States on deposits is four per cent.; it is frequently below that rate. Some of the larger banks will not permit individual deposits beyond a special amount at one time, while others decrease the rate of interest, 1898 31,443,321 $14.06 $13.85 973,382,228 50,155,783 24.04 19.41 1,429,251,270 62,622,250 34.24 22.82 1,660,808,708 68,397,000 35.39 24.28 1,601,968,473 69,878,000 34.33 22.93 1,506,434,966 71,390,000 32.88 21.10 1,640,209,519 72,937,000 34.24 22.49 1,837,859,895 74,522,000 35.39 24.66 |