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Communicated to the Senate, on the 4th of January, 1814.
Treasury Department, December 31, 1813.
Sir:
I have the honor to transmit, herewith, a letter from the Director of the Mint, containing the result of the assays of foreign gold and silver coins, made in pursuance of the act of the 10th of April, 1806, entitled “An act regulating the currency of foreign coins in the United States.”
I have the honor to be, with great respect, sir, your obedient servant,
W. JONES,
Acting Secretary of the Treasury.
The Honorable the President of the Senate.
. . . . . . . .
Mint of the United States, December 22, 1813.
Sir:
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 11th instant, and, agreeably to your desire, have caused assays to be made of the several species of foreign gold and silver coins, made current by an act of Congress of the 10th of April, 1806; the result of which, according to the assayer’s report, is as follows:
| Gold coins of Great Britain. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C. | grs. | |||||||
| No. | 1, | made of | 3 | pieces | of different dates, prior to the year 1806, | 22 | 0 | |
| 2, | “ | 4 | do. | of dates, from 1806 to 1810, inclusive except the year 1807, | 22 | 0 | ||
| Gold coins of France. | ||||||||
| No. | 1, | made of | 4 | pieces | of various dates prior to the year 1806, | 21 | 25/8 | |
| 2, | “ | 5 | “ | of dates, from 1806 to 1810, | inclusive, | 21 | 23/8 | |
| 3, | “ | 5 | “ | dated | 1811, | 21 | 23/8 | |
| 4, | “ | 5 | “ | “ | 1812, | 21 | 23/8 | |
| Gold coins of Spain. | ||||||||
| No. | 1, | made of | 4 | pieces | of various dates prior to the year 1806, | 20 | 3 | |
| 2, | “ | 5 | “ | of dates, from 1806 to 1810, | inclusive, | 20 | 3 | |
| 3, | “ | 3 | “ | dated | 1811, | 20 | 31/2 | |
| 4, | “ | 1 | “ | “ | 1813, | 20 | 31/4 | |
| Gold coins of Portugal. | ||||||||
| No. | 1, | made of | 2 | pieces | of various dates prior to the year 1806, | 22 | 0 | |
| 2, | “ | 5 | “ | of dates, from 1806 to 1810, | inclusive, | 22 | 0 | |
| 3, | “ | 5 | “ | dated | 1811, | 22 | 0 | |
| 4, | “ | 5 | “ | “ | 1812, | 22 | 0 | |
| 5, | “ | 2 | “ | “ | 1813, | 22 | 0 | |
| Silver coins of France. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| oz. | dwt. | grs. | |||||||
| No. | 1, | made of | 4 | crowns | of various dates | 10 | 18 | 12 | |
| Silver coins of Spain. | |||||||||
| No. | 1, | made of | 4 | pieces | of various dates prior to the year 1806, | 10 | 16 | 00 | |
| 2, | “ | 5 | “ | of dates, from 1806 to 1810, | inclusive, | 10 | 15 | 12 | |
| 3, | “ | 3 | “ | dated | 1811, | 10 | 15 | 12 | |
| Assayer’s Office, 20th of 12th Month, 1813. | |||||||||
From the above report, it will appear:
1st. That the gold coins of Great Britain and of Portugal are all uniformly of the same quality, and exactly equal to that of the gold coins of the United States; and therefore their intrinsic value is at the rate of 100 cents for 27 grains, or 888/9 cents per pennyweight.
2d. That the gold coins of France, especially those issued since the year 1806, inclusive, are also of a uniform quality; their intrinsic value being at the rate of 100 cents for 27351/691 grains, or 8725/100 cents per dwt.
3d. That the gold coins of Spain are somewhat variable in their quality, their average intrinsic value being at the rate of 100 cents for 28738/1331 grains, or 843/100 cents per dwt.
4th. That the intrinsic value of the French crown, supposing its weight 18 dwt. 17 grs., is 110 cents and 7527/694980 parts of a cent.
5th. That the intrinsic value of the Spanish dollar, exclusive of those issued prior to the year 1806, supposing it of the full weight of 17 dwt. 7 grs. is 100 cents and 25935/69498 parts of a cent.
I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect and esteem,
Your most obedient servant,
R. PATTERSON.
The Honorable William Jones, Acting Secretary of the Treasury.