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Communicated to the Senate, January 19, 1808.
Treasury Department, January 16th, 1808.
Sir:
I have the honor to transmit, herewith, a report prepared in obedience to the directions of the act, entitled "An act regulating the currency of the foreign coins in the United States."
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Sir, your obedient servant,
ALBERT GALLATIN.
The Honorable the President of the Senate.
. . . . . . . .
The Secretary of the Treasury, in obedience to the directions of the act, entitled "An act regulating the currency of the foreign coins in the United States," respectfully reports:
That assays of the foreign gold and silver coins made current by the act aforesaid, have been made at the mint of the United States; the result whereof will appear by the letter of the Director of the Mint, dated 24th December, 1807, and herewith transmitted.
That it may be thence inferred-
1st. That the gold coins of Great Britain and Portugal, the French crowns and Spanish milled dollars, have not, by the act aforesaid, been rated above their intrinsic value.
2d. That, although the gold coins of France and Spain have, by the act, been rated at the rate of one hundred cents for every twenty-seven grains and two-fifths of a grain of the weight thereof, twenty-seven grains and two-fifths of a grain of the gold coins of France, are worth only ninety-nine cents and three-fourths of a cent; and twenty-seven grains and two-fifths of a grain of the gold coins of Spain are worth only ninety-five cents and three-fourths of a cent.
3d. That, although the parts of a Spanish milled dollar have, by the act, been rated at the rate of one hundred cents for every seventeen pennyweights and seven grains of the weight thereof, that weight, in pistareens, or fifths of a dollar, coined prior to the year 1738, is worth only ninety-nine cents, and in pistareens coined subsequent to the year 1773, is worth only ninety cents and one-tenth of a cent.
4th. That the crowns of France and the parts thereof, have, by the act, been rated at the rate of one hundred and ten cents for every eighteen pennyweights and seventeen grains thereof, but that that weight in five francs pieces, (and it is understood that all the other modern silver coins of France are of the same standard) is worth only one hundred and eight cents and three-fifths of a cent.
And that, in order to reduce those several descriptions of foreign coins to their true value, according to the assays lately made, it would seem proper that they should, hereafter, pass current at the following rates, viz:
Gold coins of France, at the rate of one hundred cents for every twenty-seven grains and one half of a grain of the actual weight thereof.
Gold coins of Spain and the dominions of Spain, at the rate of one hundred cents for every twenty-eight grains and five-eights of a grain of the actual weight thereof.
Spanish pistareens, at the rate of one hundred cents for every nineteen pennyweights and five grains of the actual weight thereof.
Five francs pieces of France, at the rate of ninety-three cents for every sixteen pennyweights of the actual weight thereof; and in proportion for subdivisions of five francs pieces.
All which is respectfully submitted.
ALBERT GALLATIN.
Treasury Department, January 14th, 1808.
. . . . . . . .
Mint of the United States, December 24th, 1807.
Sir:
Agreeably to your desire, I have caused assays to be made of the various species of foreign gold and silver coins (as far as could be procured) required by the act of Congress, passed the 10th of April, 1806; the result of which, according to the assayer's report, is as follows:
| I. Gold Coins of Great Britain. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car. | Gr. | |||
| No. | 1. | Made from seven pieces, of dates prior to 1806, | 22 | 0 |
| 2. | Made from seven ditto, of the year 1806, | 22 | 0 | |
| None of subsequent dates could be procured. | ||||
| II. Gold Coins of Portugal. | ||||
| Made from ten pieces, of dates prior to 1806, | 22 | 0 | ||
| None of subsequent dates could be procured. | ||||
| III. Gold Coins of France. | ||||
| No. | 1. | Made from three pieces, of Lewis XV. | 21 | 2 |
| 2. | Made from three pieces, of Lewis XVI. | 21 | 2½ | |
| 3. | Made from two twenty-five franc pieces, of the years 1812 and 1813, | 21 | 2½ | |
| 4. | Made from three twenty-five franc pieces, of the year 1826, | 21 | 2½ | |
| None of the year 1807 could be procured. | ||||
| IV. Gold Coins of Spain. | ||||
| No. | 1. | Made from ten pieces, of dates prior to 1806, | 20 | 3½ |
| 2. | Made from five ditto, of the year 1806, | 20 | 2¾ | |
| 3. | Made from three ditto, of the year 1807, | 20 | 3¼ | |
| V. Silver Coins of France. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oz. | Dwt. | Gr. | |||
| No. | 1. | Made from five crowns of Lewis XVI. | 10 | 19 | 12 |
| 2. | Made from three five franc pieces, of the years 5, 6, 8, | 10 | 15 | 12 | |
| None of subsequent dates could be procured. | |||||
| VI. Silver Coins of Spain. | |||||
| No. | 1. | Made from three dollars, of dates prior to 1806, | 10 | 15 | 00 |
| 2. | Made from two dollars, of the year 1806, | 10 | 15 | 06 | |
| 3. | Made from two dollars, of the year 1807, | 10 | 15 | 00 | |
| 4. | Made from five pistareens, of dates between 1708 and 1737, | 10 | 12 | 18 | |
| 5. | Made from five pistareens, or five-fifths of a dollar, of dates between 1773 and 1778, | 9 | 13 | 12 | |
From the above report it may be inferred-
1. That the gold coins of Great Britain and of Portugal, being of the same quality or standard with those of the United States, are, by the act of Congress, rated at their true intrinsic value, of twenty-seven grains to one hundred cents.
2. That all the other gold coins have been rated above their intrinsic values. For, comparing then with the standard of the gold coins of the United States, the following will be the results:
Gold coins of France being 21 carats 2½ grains fine; 2731/173 grains, or 27168/1000 will be equal in value to 100 cents; and gold coins of Spain, averaging about 20 car. 3 gr. fine; 2852/83 gr. or 28626/1000 will equal 100 cents: whereas, by act of Congress, 272/5 gr. 27400/1000, both of the French and Spanish gold coins, are made equal in value to 100 cents.
It may, however, be observed, that all foreign gold coins have now nearly ceased to circulate as a currency in the United States. Deposites of these are still, indeed, frequently made in our banks; but are thence, either sent to the mint for coinage, or re-issued for the purpose of exportation.
3. That the French crowns and Spanish milled dollars have not been overrated; but, in fact, if of full weight, would exceed their legal value by a small fraction of a cent.
4. That the French five franc pieces, the quality being inferior to that of the French crown's 18 dwt. 17 gr. instead of 110 cents, (the legal value of a French crown) would be in value only 108 cts. 6 mills.
5. That of the Spanish pistareens, or fifths of a dollar, 17 dwt. 7 gr. of those of 10 oz. 12 dwt. 18 gr. fine, would only be worth 99 cts. 1 mill, and of those of 9 oz. 13 dwt. 12 gr. no more than 90 cts. 1 mill; whereas, by law, a Spanish dollar of the above weight, (and in proportion for the parts of a dollar) is valued at 100 cents.
I have the honor to be, &c.
R. PATTERSON.
The Honorable Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury.