Dear Robert,

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The Establishment s "iew of ;onspiracy Theories The .nternet is awash in all kinds of conspiracy theories, from .luminati to Reptillians, from <ionist plots to takeo"er the world to the => military causing earth?uakes. @ikewise, Roger ;ohen, in an op#Ed for the Aew Bork Times propounded that, Ccapti"e minds... resort to conspiracy theory because it is the ultimate refuge of the powerless. .f you cannot change your own life, it must be that some greater force controls the world.CD22E

What Is A "Dollar"? An Historical Analysis Of The Fundamental In !onetary "olicy

by

uestion

Ed#in $ieira% &r'

Fore#ord

Today, all thinking, informed +mericans know their country is in trouble. Fany ha"enGt a clue as to what went wrong with their go"ernment, while others can recite a litany of reasons for their countryGs distress. Hf course, no one reason is paramountI but surely a debased, corrupt, and inflationary monetary system must be placed near the top of the list of causes of +mericaGs woes. What To Do About It? This Fonograph presents, in irrefutable fashion, the legal and economic history of the Cdollar,/ and of the CdollarGsC role in +mericaGs monetary system, as originally de"ised by the 3ounding 3athers. .t also analy4es the ;oinage +ct of &JK1, signed into law by *resident 'ashington, which put into effect the monetary system the 3ounders had pre"iously outlined in the Constitution. This system helped make the =nited >tates CdollarC the safest, most sought#after currency in the world, leading to the well#known saying Csound as a dollar./ $owe"er, in &K&2, ;ongress # in an unconstitutional act # relin?uished its constitutional power and duty to Ccoin Foney and regulate the Lalue thereofC to a pri"ate banking cartel, the 3ederal Reser"e >ystem. The ensuing years witnessed a gradual abandonment of the 3ounding 3athersG system ,based on sil"er and gold coins0 and the insidious substitution of a paper#currency system based on irredeemable, fiat 3ederal Reser"e Aotes, which continue to circulate today only because of the publicGs misplaced confidence. 'hat to do about it: is the ?uestion. Hb"iously, the 3ederal Reser"e >ystemGs experiment with fiat currency has failed. But we cannot ha"e a sound economy without sound money. That means we must return to a monetary system based on sil"er and gold coins # as the 3ounding 3athers wisely specified. This will re?uire action by ;ongress to rectify its mistake of &K&2, by abolishing the 3ederal Reser"e >ystem and reaffirming the CdollarC as a coin containing 2J&.19 grains ,troy0 of fine sil"er. 'e know that ;ongress will take no such action on its own initiati"e. ;ongress will mo"e only when the general public becomes aware of, and incensed by, the monetary mess ;ongress and the 3ederal Reser"e >ystem ha"e created. Therefore, e"eryone concerned with Cthe money issueC must bring the facts to the attention of as many +mericans as possible. This Fonograph contains more than enough documentation to con"ince anyone of good faith and an open mind of what a CdollarC is. This documentation should be used in e"ery possible way to generate public debate on the money issue% letters to the editor, call#ins to radio talk shows, local citi4ensG meetings, and so on. +ll these offer opportunities to present powerful arguments for a restoration of the constitutional monetary system, and to wrest the initiati"e in the public forum away from the 3ederal Reser"e >ystem and its apologists. +s the Fonograph concludes, Cmodern money has become a means for the total confiscation of pri"ate property by the go"ernment./ .t is, therefore, incumbent on those of us who understand this issue to make the truth known to others. Aothing could be more "ital than to restore the monetary system with a pro"en track record% the one de"ised by our 3ounding 3athers! Richard @. >olyom, ;hairman Sound Dollar Committee

What Is A "Dollar"?

Introduction The ?uestion C'hat is a GdollarG:C may seem tri"ial. E"eryone knows what a CdollarC is # or, at least almost e"eryone thinks he does. .n fact, howe"er, "ery few people could correctly define a Cdollar./ +nd e"en fewer know why a correct definition is "ital to their continued economic and political well#being. Analysis 1. Why is a correct definition of the term "dollar" important? The =nited >tates has a highly ad"anced free#market economy. .n a free# market economy, the prices of almost all goods and ser"ices are stated in units of money. =nder present law # and, as will be described below, from the "ery beginnings of this country # C=nited >tates money is expressed in dollars M M M ./& Foreo"er, all C=nited >tates coins and currency ,including 3ederal Reser"e Aotes M M M0 are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes and dues./1 Thus, all Ccoins and currency ,including 3ederal Reser"e notes M M M 0C that are Cexpressed in dollarsC are both money and legal tender. 3or this reason, accurately defining the noun CdollarC is mandatory, in order to know what is supposedly the official CFoneyC of the =nited >tates and what constitutes Clegal tender for all debts, public charges. taxes and dues./2 2. Do the present monetary statutes intelli ibly define the "dollar!"? =nfortunately, the present monetary statutes do not define the CdollarC in an intelligible fashion. a. "ederal #eser$e %otes. Fost people associate the noun CdollarC with the 3ederal Reser"e Aote ,C3RAC0 Cdollar bill,/ engra"ed with the portrait of *resident Neorge 'ashington. This association is mistaken. Ao statute defines # or e"er has defined # the Cone dollarC 3RA as the Cdollar,/ or e"en as a species of Cdollar./ Foreo"er, the &nited States Code pro"ides that 3RAs Cshall be redeemed in lawful money on demand at the Treasury Department of the =nited >tates M M M or at any 3ederal Reser"e bank./O Thus, 3RAs are not themsel"es Clawful moneyC # otherwise, they would not be Credeemable in lawful money./ +nd if 3RAs are not e"en Clawful money,/ it is inconcei"able that they are somehow Cdollars,/ the "ery units in which all C=nited >tates money is expressed./9 *eople are confused on this point because of the insidious manner in which 3RAs Ce"ol"edC # actually, de enerated is a more appropriate "erb # from the late &K18s until today. 3RAs of >eries &K1P through >eries &K98E carried the obligation CThe =nited >tates of +merica will pay to the bearer on demand Dsome number ofE dollars./ *rior to &K2O, the notes carried the inscription CRedeemable in gold on demand at the =nited >tates Treasury, or in gold or lawful money at any 3ederal Reser"e Bank./ +fter &K2O, the notes carried the inscription Cthis note M M M is redeemable in lawful money at the =nited >tates Treasury, or at any 3ederal Reser"e BankC ,post#&K2O0. >tarting with >eries &KQ2, the words Cwill pay to the bearer on demandC no longer appearI and each 3RA simply states a particular denomination in Cdollars./ 'ith and after >eries &KQ2, the promise of redemption also "anished from the face of each note.Q Thus, on their faces 3RAs became, in the apt description of banking expert 6ohn Exter, an C..H.=. AothingC currency. This change in the mere language printed on 3RAs could not transform their legal character, howe"er. .f 3RAs were not CdollarsC when they explicitly

promised to pay in gold or Clawful money,/ they did not magically become CdollarsC when they stopped explicitly promising to pay in anything at all.J b. &nited States coins. The situation with coinage is more complex, but e?ually ,if not more0 confusing. The &nited States Code pro"ides for three different types of coinage denominated in CdollarsC% namely, base# metallic coinage, gold coinage, and sil"er coinage. ,&0 The base#metallic coinage consists of Ca dollar coin,/ weighing CP.& grams,/ Ca half dollar coin,/ weighing C&&.2O gramsCI Ca ?uarter coin,/ weighing C9.QJ gramsC% and Ca dime coin,/ weighing C1.1QP grams./P +ll of these coins are composed of copper and nickel.K The weights of the dime, the ?uarter, and the half dollar are in the correct arithmetical proportions, the one to each of the others.&8 But the CdollarC is disproportionately light ,or the other coins disproportionately hea"y0. .n this series of base metallic coins, then, the ?uestions naturally arise% .s the CdollarC a cupro#nickel coin weighing CP.& gramsC: Hr is it two cupro# nickel coins ,or four or ten coins0 collecti"ely weighing 11.QP grams: Hr is it both: Hr is it neither, but something else altogether, to which the weights of these coins are irrele"ant: ,10 >imilarly, the gold coinage consists of CDaE fifty dollar gold coinC that Cweighs 22.K2& grams, and contains one troy ounce of fine goldCI CDaE twenty#fi"e dollar gold coinC that Ccontains one# half ounce of fine goldCI CDaE ten dollar gold coinC that Ccontains one fourth ounce of fine goldCI and CDaE fi"e dollar gold coinC that Ccontains one tenth ounce of fine gold./&& The Cfifty dollar,/ Ctwenty#fi"e dollar,/ and Cfi"e dollarC coins are in the correct arithmetical proportions each to the others. But the Cten dollarC coin is not. Therefore, is a CdollarC one#fiftieth or one#fortieth of an ounce of gold: Hr both: Hr neither: +nd what is the logical, economic, or other relationship between a CdollarC that contains CP.& gramsC of copper and nickel, and a CdollarC that consists of 8.QJK grams of gold alloy: &1 ,20 3inally, the sil"er coinage consists of a coin that is inscribed CHne Dollar,/ weighs C2&.&82 grams,/ and is supposed to contain one ounce of ./KKK fine sil"er./&2 'hat is the rational relationship between this CdollarC of C2&.&82 gramsC of C.KKK fine sil"er,/ a CdollarC containing 8.QJK grams of gold alloy, and a CdollarC containing CP.& gramsC of base metals: Hb"iously, these are not the amounts of the metals that exchange against each other in the free market # that is, the different weights of different metals do not reflect e?ui"alent purchasing powers. >o, on what theory are each of these disparate weights, and purchasing powers, e?ually CdollarsC: c. Currency of "e'ual purchasin po(er" The &nited States Code pro"ides no answer to this perplexing ?uestion. .ndeed, it mandates that the ?uestion should not e"en be capable of being asked. 3or the Code commands that Cthe >ecretary Dof the TreasuryE shall redeem gold certificates owned by the 3ederal reser"e banks at times and in amounts the >ecretary decides are necessary to maintain the e'ual purchasin po(er of each )ind of &nited States currency.&O Hne need be no expert in currency transactions to know that a Cfifty#dollarC gold coin has significantly more purchasing power than a Cfifty#dollarC 3RA or than fifty cupro#nickel Cdollars,/ and that a Cone#dollarC sil"er coin has significantly more purchasing power than a Cone#dollarC 3RA or one cupro#nickel Cdollar./ Thus, one need be no expert in administrati"e law to reali4e that the >ecretary of the Treasury has defaulted on his obligation to keep allforms of C=nited >tates currencyC at parity with each other # that is, to maintain a CdollarC of the same purchasing#power, whether it be composed of gold, sil"er, or base metals.

The >ecretaryGs default cannot be traced to a lack of power to perform his duty. 3or example, C'ith the appro"al of the *resident, the >ecretary of the Treasury may # ,+0 buy and sell gold in the way, in amounts, at rates, and on conditions the >ecretary considers most ad"antageous to the public interestI and ,B0 buy the gold with any direct obligations of the =nited >tates No"ernment or =nited >tates coins and currency authori4ed by law M M M.C&9 CThe >ecretary may buy sil"er mined from natural deposits in the =nited >tates that is brought to a =nited >tates mint or assay office within one year after the month in which the ore from which it is deri"ed was mined.C&Q CThe >ecretary may sell or use No"ernment sil"er to mint coins M M M . The >ecretary shall sell sil"er under conditions the >ecretary considers appropriate for at least R&.1K1K1K1K1 a fine troy ounce.C&J CExcept to the extent authori4ed in regulations the >ecretary of the Treasury prescribes with the appro"al of the *resident, the >ecretary may not redeem =nited >tates currency ,including 3ederal reser"e notes M M M0 in gold. M M M 'hen redemption in gold is authori4ed, the redemption may be made only in gold bullion bearing the stamp of a =nited >tates mint or assay office in an amount e?ual at the time of redemption to the currency presented for redemption.C&P Thus, the &nited States Code simply presents another unanswered ?uestion% C'hy has the >ecretary of the Treasury failed Gto maintain the e?ual purchasing power of each kind of =nited >tates currencyG:C .n sum, the present monetary statutes of the =nited >tates do not define the noun CdollarC in an uni?ue way. .nstead of monetary la( # which, by hypothesis, re?uires clearly defined terms and rational relationships among those terms # the countryGs present monetary code smacks of political psychosis # in which completely different things ha"e the same name, things une?ual to each other are treated as e?ui"alent, and things that should ha"e the same characteristics ,e.g., Ce?ual purchasing powerDsEC0 are ?uite different. *. What do American history and the Constitution identify as the "dollar"? Reference to history clears away the confusion of present#day politics, by showing beyond ca"il that the CdollarC is a specific coin, containing 2J&.19 grains ,troy0 of fine sil"er, and nothing else. a. The "dollar" in the Constitution. Both +rticle &, >ection K, ;lause & of and the >e"enth +mendment to the Constitution refer explicitly to the CdollarC # in the one case, permitting Ca Tax or duty M M M not exceeding ten dollars for each *ersonC the >tates saw fit Cto admitC prior to &P8PI and, in the other, guaranteeing trial by )ury CDiEn suits at common law, where the "alue in contro"ersy shall exceed twenty dollars./ The Constitution does not define this Cdollar./ But, in the late &J88s, no explicit definition was necessary% E"eryone con"ersant with political and economic affairs knew that the word imported the sil"er >panish milled dollar. .ndeed, had not such an understanding been catholic, powerful contending forces might ne"er ha"e agreed to support the Constitution at all. 3or example, the traditional interpretation of +rticle &, >ection K, ;lause & is that it elliptically refers to the sla"e#trade, and represents a compromise between pro+ and anti+sla"ery forces that was "ital to ratification of the Constitution.&K >elf#e"idently, those in the pro#sla"ery faction would ne"er ha"e accepted the

CTax or dutyC phrase unless they already knew that the CdollarC identified as the measure of the CTaxC had a fixed "alue, and what its "alue was. Htherwise, by monetary manipulation aimed at increasing the purchasing#power of the Cdollar,/ anti+sla"ery forces in ;ongress might ha"e eliminated the sla"e#trade altogether. >imilarly, the proponents of the fundamental right to )ury#trial in the >e"enth +mendment would ne"er ha"e accepted the CdollarC#limitation on )ury# trials unless they already knew that the CdollarC had a fixed "alue, and what its "alue was. Htherwise, monetary manipulation might ha"e eliminated common#law )uries altogether. Bet both these groups also were aware of the doctrine that, if ;ongress had discretion to change the "alue of the unit of money, there could be no legal limits to the changes it might make.18 Therefore, their support of these pro"isions inferentially establishes what a literal reading of them straightforwardly suggests% to wit, that the noun CdollarC refers, not to a mere name applicable to whate"er ;ongress whimsically might decide thereafter to call a Cdollar,/ but instead to a particular coin so familiar in +merican experience as to be beyond political transmogrification. +n interpretation of the term CdollarC as signifying merely the label the Constitution gi"es to whate"er ;ongress decides to make the unit of money, if consistently applied to other undefined terms in the document, would render the Constitution nonsensical. 3or example, the noun CBearC appears repetiti"ely in +rticle . # particularly in >ection 1, ;lause & ,CThe $ouse of Representati"es shall be composed of Fembers chosen e"ery second BearC0, and >ection 2, ;lause . ,CThe >enate of the =nited >tates shall be composed of two >enators from each >tate, chosen by the @egislature thereof, for six BearsC0. >elf#e"idently, the 3ramers used this term with the presumption that e"eryone would implicitly understand it to mean the time the earth actually re?uires for one complete re"olution around the sun # rather than a mere empty shorthand for a unit of time within the discretion of ;ongress to adopt or change. Bet, if the word CdollarC need ha"e no fixed, historically ascertainable meaning, neither need the word CBear./ The principle of constitutional interpretation is precisely the same in both cases. +nd if the noun CBearC need ha"e no meaning more fixed than the noun CdollarC does in present#day monetary statutes ,as discussed abo"e0, then ;ongress could enact laws CredefiningC the CBearC so as to extend, for instance, the terms of the $ouse and >enate to ten, twenty, one hundred, or any other number of earthly re"olutions. Hf course, ;ongress may, with constitutional propriety, appoint astronomers, physicists, and other ?ualified experts to determine with scientific precision what the CBearC actually is. ;ongress lacks authority, howe"er, to decide for itself what the CBearC ought to be, or to declare the CBearC to be whate"er ;ongress may arbitrarily desire from time to time. +nalogously, ;ongress may, with constitutional propriety, appoint economists, monetary historians, and other experts to determine with clinometric accuracy what the CdollarC actually was in the late &J88s. .n fact, this is what ;ongress did do, under both the +rticles of ;onfederation and the Constitution ,as described below0. ;ongress has no authority, howe"er, to decide for itself what the CdollarC ought to be. Besides constitutional history and logic, economic analysis and history support an interpretation of the noun CdollarC as referring to a specific thing the character of which was an ascertainable historical fact that ;ongress was obliged to determine, rather than as constituting merely a political label that ;ongress could assign to whate"er it deemed expedient. The nominalistic "iew that would treat the term CdollarC as simply a con"enient, historically "acuous term for whate"er ;ongress chooses to declare to be Cmoney,/ and set up as the Cunit of "alue,/ is incapable of answering the ?uestion% C'hat is an abstract Gunit of "alueG:,/ and passes o"er in

silence the ?uestion% CBefore ratification of the Constitution, was the GdollarG something that it ceased to be thereafter:C Economically, of course, CabstractC ,or Cob)ecti"eC0 "alue does not exist, in monetary matters or elsewhere. .n general, the notion that "alue is ob)ecti"e is CDaEn in"eterate fallacyCI and the allied concept that "alue is measurable in terms of some definedly fixed unit is a Cspurious idea./ >imply put, CDtEhere is no method a"ailable to construct a unit of "alue./ Fore specifically, Cmoney is not a standard for the measurement of pricesI it is a medium whose exchange ratio "aries in the same way M M M in which the mutual exchange ratios of the "endible commodities and ser"ices "ary./ 3urthermore, money can ne"er arise e, nihilo. CThe acceptance of anew kind of money presupposes that the thing in ?uestion already has, pre"ious exchange "alue on account of the ser"ices it can render directly to consumption or production.C1& .n short, no go"ernmental edict can make something with no pre"iously existing purchasing power either a Cunit of "alue,/ or CmoneyC in the economic sense. *rior to ratification of the Constitution, no one con"ersant with economics and commercial practices concei"ed of monetary "alues as abstractions. Rather, CmoneyC was generally synonymous with known weights of the precious metals, gold and sil"er, and ,to a lesser degree0 the base metals, such as copper. .n particular, +nglo#+merican monetary history records that merchants traditionally tendered and accepted coins, the standard monetary instruments of the times, not by tale without consideration of those coinsG ?ualities. but only as pieces of precious metal of specific weights and fineness. 'here commercial practice accepted payment of coins by tale, it was always with the definite belief that those coinsG stamps assured them to be of the correct weights and usual fineness for their types. +bsent grounds supporting this assumption, merchants regularly resorted to weighing and chemical analyses. Thus, commercial practice always insisted that the C"alueC of coins was not their face#"alues as abstract go"ernmental tokens, but only their market#"alues as pieces of actual metal. +nd whene"er circumstances indicated that a stamp no longer reflected a coinGs physical content, merchants ceased relying on the official monetary C"alue,/ and substituted their own system for measuring the coinGs market#worth in precious metal. 3rom an early day, the law applicable to +merica conformed to this age# old commercial understanding. Sueen +nneGs *roclamation of &J8O, for example, spoke not of abstract "alues, but of Cthe "alue of M M M coins which usually pass in payment in our said plantations Din +mericaE, accordin to their (ei ht- and the assays made of them in our mint-. and specifically referred to the "Se$il- /illar- or 0e,ico pieces of eightC ,"arious forms of >panish sil"er dollars0 as ha"ing Cthe full weight of se"enteen penny#weight and an halfC # thereby recogni4ing that the "alueC of a coin lay in its CweightC and CassayC according to a fixed standard, or Cfull weight./11 Thus, at the time of ratification of the Constitution, no person with any understanding of law and monetary affairs would ha"e attributed to the noun CdollarC a meaning other than ,for example0% Ca sil"er coin with a "alue of such#and#so grains of precious metal when at full weight./12 b. Adoption of the "dollar" as the unit of money prior to ratification of the Constitution. The actions of the ;ontinental ;ongress itself pro"e that the foregoing analysis is correct. The 3ounding 3athers did not need explicitly to adopt the CdollarC as the national unit of money or to define that noun in the Constitution # because the ;ontinental ;ongress had already performed that task.

.. =se of the dollar as a standard coin and monetary unit did not begin with the ;ontinental ;ongress, howe"er. Fonetary historians generally first associate the dollar with one ;ount >chlick, who began striking such sil"er coins in &9&K in 6oachimGs Thai, Ba"aria. Then called C>chlickten thalersC or C6oachimsthalers,/ the coins became known simply as Cthalers,/ which transliterated into Cdollars./ .nterestingly, the +merican ;olonies did not adopt the dollar from England, but from >pain. =nder that countryGs monetary reforms of &OKJ, the sil"er real became the >panish money#unit, or unit of account. + new coin consisting of eight reales also appeared. Lariously known as pesos- duros- pie1as de a ocho ,Cpieces of eightC0, or >panish dollars ,because of their similarity in weight and fineness to the thaler0, the coins ?uickly achie"ed predominance in financial markets of the Aew 'orld because of >painGs then#important commercial and political position.1O .ndeed, by &J8O, the Cpieces of eightC had in fact become a unit of account of the ;olonies, as Sueen +nneGs *roclamation of &J8O recogni4ed, when it decreed that all other current foreign sil"er coins Cstand regulated, according to their weight and fineness, according and in proportion to the rate before limited and set for the pieces of eight of Se$il- /illar- and 0e,ico..19 By the 'ar of .ndependence, the >panish dollar was, for all practical purposes, rapidly becoming the monetary unit of the +merican people as a matter of economics. Aot surprisingly, the ;ontinental ;ongress first used, and then took formal steps to adopt, that dollar as the nationGs standard of "alue. Hn 11 Fay &JJQ, a ;ongressional committee reported on Cthe "alue of the se"eral species of gold and sil"er coins current in these colonies, and the proportions they ought to bear to >panish milled dollars./ +nd on 1 >eptember of that year, a further committee#report undertook to CdeclarDeE the precise weight and fineness of the M M M >panish milled dollar M M M now becoming the Foney#=nit or common measure of other coins in these states and to CexplaiDnE the principles and establish the rules by which M M M the said common measure shall be applied to other coins M M M in order to estimate their comparati"e "alues./1Q Feanwhile, ;ongress and its agents were carefully exploring the basis of, and possible structures for, a national monetary#system. .n his letter to ;ongress of &9 6anuary &JP1, Robert Forris, >uperintendent of the Hffice of 3inance, commented that, CDaElthough most nations ha"e coined copper, yet that metal is so impure, that it has ne"er been considered as constituting the money standard. This is affixed to the two precious metals Di.e., sil"er and goldE, because they alone will admit of ha"ing their intrinsic "alue precisely ascertained./ C+rguments are unnecessary to shew that the scale by which e"ery thing is to be measured ought to be as fixed as the nature of things will permit,/ wrote Forris, concluding thatCDtEhere can be no doubt therefore that our money standard ought to be affixed to sil"er./ +lthough Forris personally fa"ored creating an entirely new standard coin, he recogni4ed that CDtEhe "arious coins which ha"e circulated in +merica, ha"e undergone different changes in their "alue, so that there is hardly any which can be considered as a general standard, unless it be >panish dollars./1J .n a plan first published on 1O 6uly &JPO, Thomas 6efferson strongly concurred that CDtEhe >panish dollar seems to fulfill all M M M conditionsC applicable to Cfixing the unit of money./ CTaking into our "iew all money transactions, great and small,C he "entured, C. ?uestion if a common measure, of more con"enient si4e than the dollar, could be proposed.C CThe unit, or dollar,C he wrote e?uating the one with the other, Cis a known coin, and the most familiar of all to the minds of people. .t is already adopted from south to north% has identified our currency, and therefore happily offers itself as an unit already introduced. Hur public debt, our re?uisitions and their apportionments, ha"e gi"en it actual and long possession of the place of unit.C1P Bet 6efferson recogni4ed the necessity of certain practical steps to adopt the dollar as the CFoney#=nitC% C.f we determine that a dollar shall be our unit, we must then say with precision

what a dollar is. This coin as struck at different times, of different weight and fineness, is of different "alues.C This, though, 6efferson saw as a problem for economic science to sol"e through ob)ecti"e measurement, not as a matter for politics to dictate according to arbitrary policy. C.f the dollars circulating among us be of e"ery date e?ual, we should examine the ?uantity of pure metal in each, and from them form an a"erage for our unit. This is a work proper to be committed to the mathematicians as well as merchants, and which should be decided on actual and accurate experiments.C CThe proportion between the "alue of gold and sil"er,/ he added, Cis a mercantile problem altogether./ Ni"en CDtEhe ?uantity of fine sil"er which shall constitute the unit,/ and Cthe proportion of the "alue of gold to that of sil"er,/ 6efferson went on, Ca table should be formed M M M classing the se"eral foreign coins according to their fineness, declaring the worth M M M in each class, and that they should be lawful tenders at those rates, if not clipped or otherwise diminished./1K ;oncluding, he encouraged ;ongress% To appoint proper persons to assay and examine, with the utmost accuracy practicable, the >panish milled dollars of different dates in circulation with us. To assay and examine in like manner the fineness of all the other coins which may be found in circulation within these states. To appoint also proper persons to en?uire what are the proportions between the "alues in fine gold and fine sil"er, at the markets of the se"eral countries with which we are or probably may be connected in commerceI and what would be a proper proportion here, ha"ing regard to the a"erage of their "alues at those markets M M M . To prepare an ordinance for establishing the unit of money within these states M M M on the M M M principleD%E That the money#unit of these states shall be e?ual in "alue to >panish milled dollar, containing so much fine sil"er as the assay M M M shall shew to be contained on an a"erage in dollars of the se"eral dates in circulation with us.28 6effersonGs cogent and straightforward analysis of the problem of selecting and defining a unit of money should be compared # contrasted, really # with the present mishmash of monetary statutes that lea"e the definition of the CdollarC in a state of hopeless confusion today. 3irst, for 6efferson, the CunitC was to be Ca known coinC that was CfamiliarC to the people because it was Calready adoptedC in the marketplace. Aone of the coins that ;ongress now authori4es # be it of sil"er, gold, or base metals # was ,before its authori4ation0 a Cknown coinC CfamiliarC to anyone in the =nited >tates, e"en in terms of its content of metal. >econd, ha"ing settled on the CdollarC as the Cunit,/ for 6efferson the problem of fixing the standard CunitC reduced to determining Cwhat a dollar isC in terms of Cthe ?uantity of pure metalC Di.e., sil"erE contained in Can a"erageC coin that actually circulated in the marketplace. Thus, for 6efferson it was not the prerogati"e of ;ongress to create the CdollarC e, nihilo- but the responsibility of ;ongress to determine what the CdollarC in common use among the people actually was. TodayGs ;ongress assumes that it may declare anything a Cdollar,/

and then impose that ersat1- political pseudo+ CdollarC on the people whether they want it or not. Third, for 6efferson, to settle the relati"e "alues of sil"er and gold coins was also a matter of studying actual economic relationships in the marketplace% to wit, Cthe proportion of the "alue of gold to that of sil"erC in the "arious coins in circulation. 3or todayGs ;ongress, economic relationships between sil"er and gold are irrele"ant. +nd, of course, there is no rational economic relationship between the coins of base metals and the coins of precious metals, either. Foreo"er, e"en within the sets of gold and base#metallic coins themsel"es, rational economic relationships are irrele"ant to ;ongress! Hb"iously, 6effersonGs free#market, scientific approach is a world apart from the arbitrary way in which ;ongress has set up the mutually incompatible and internally irrational sets of sil"er, gold, and base# metallic coins that exist today. Hn &2 Fay &JP9, a committee presented ;ongress with C*ropositions Respecting the ;oinage of Nold, >il"er, and ;opper,/ which referred to the C*lan which proposes that the Foney =nit be Hne Dollar./ C.n fa"or of this *lan,/ the committee reported, is Cthat a Dollar, the proposed =nit, has long been in general =se. .ts Lalue is familiar. This accords with the national mode of keeping +ccounts./ @ater, the report referred to the CdollarC as the CFoney of +ccount,/ thereby e?uating that term with the term CFoney#=nit./2& Hn Q 6uly &JP9, ;ongress unanimously "#esol$ed- That the money unit of the =nited >tates be one dollar./21 +lmost another year elapsed until, on P +pril &JPQ, the Board of Treasury reported to ;ongress on the establishment of a mint% ;ongress by their +ct of the Qth 6uly last resol"ed, that the Foney =nit of the =nited >tates should be a Dollar, but did not determine what number of grains of 3ine >il"er should constitute the Dollar. 'e ha"e concluded that ;ongress by their +ct aforesaid, intended the common Dollars that are ;urrent in the =nited >tates, and we ha"e made our calculations accordingly. MMMMM The Foney =nit or Dollar will contain three hundred and se"enty fi"e grains and sixty four hundredths of a Nrain of fine >il"er. + Dollar containing this number of Nrains of fine >il"er, will be worth as much as the Aew >panish Dollars.22 >hortly thereafter, on P +ugust &JPJ, ;ongress adopted this standard as Cthe money =nit of the =nited >tates.2O +gain, stark and striking is the contrast between how the committee of the ;ontinental ;ongress # composed of the 3ounding 3athers # approached the problem of fixing the unit of money, and how the modern ;ongress deals with the same matter. The committee determined that an +mericanCdollarC should contain a known, unchangeable weight of sil"er, and would be Cworth as much as the Aew >panish DollarsC because it actually contained this weight of precious metal, not simply because ;ongress said it was a Cdollar./ TodayGs ;ongress, howe"er, assumes that the CdollarC need ha"e no rational relationship to a weight of sil"er, of gold, or e"en of base metals. Thus, todayGs ;ongress assumes that the "alue of money has nothing to do with the substance

that composes a coin, but is merely the product of a political decree. .n todayGs 'ashington, D.;., might not only makes right, but also creates economic "alue! Fany of the same people who ser"ed in the ;ontinental ;ongress participated in the 3ederal ;on"ention that drafted the Constitution. +nd e"en those members of the ;on"ention who had not ser"ed in the ;ontinental ;ongress knew what that ;ongress had done. Therefore, when the ;on"ention used the noun CdollarC in +rticle &, >ection K. ;lause . of the Constitution, it was with the tacit understanding of all the history surrounding that noun. Thus, the lesson here is clear% The constitutional Cdollar,/ the constitutional CFoney#=nitC or CFoney of +ccountC of the =nited >tates, is an historically determinate, fixed weight of fine sil"er in the form of a coin # in essence, a unit of measure # adopted, not created, first by the +merican market and then by the ;ontinental ;ongress well before ratification of the Constitution. c. Adoption of the "dollar" as the unit of money immediately after the ratification of the Constitution. =pon ratification of the Constitution. ;ongress and the Executi"e began work on a national monetary system. 213 Ale,ander 4amilton!s #eport on the 0int. Hn 1P 6anuary &JK&, >ecretary of the Treasury +lexander $amilton presented to ;ongress his #eport on the Sub5ect of a 0int. C+ plan for an establishment of this nature,/ he wrote, Cin"ol"es a great "ariety of considerations intricate, nice, and important.C .ndeed, the erection of a mint was essential to the continued integrity of the nationGs coinage% The dollar originally contemplated in the money transactions of this country Di.e., the sil"er >panish milled dollarE, by successi"e diminutions of its weight and fineness Din the >panish mintsE, has sustained a depreciation of fi"e per cent, and yet the new dollar has a currency in all payments in place of the old, with scarcely any attention to the difference between them. The operation of this in depreciating the "alue of property depending upon past contracts, and M M M of all other property, is apparent. Aor can it re?uire argument to pro"e that a nation ought not to suffer the "alue of the property of its citi4ens to fluctuate with the fluctuations of a foreign mint, or to change with the changes in the regulations of a foreign so"ereign. This, ne"ertheless, is the condition of one which, ha"ing no coins of its own, adopts with implicit confidence those of other countries. MMMMM .t was with great reason, therefore, that the attention of ;ongress, under the late ;onfederation, was repeatedly drawn to the establishment of a mintI and it is with e?ual reason that the sub)ect has been resumed M M M .29 To form Ca right )udgment of what ought to be done,/ $amilton posed two ?uestions, Clst. 'hat ought to be the nature of the money unit of the =nited >tates:,/ and C1d. 'hat the proportion between gold and sil"er, if coins of both metals are to be established:C2Q Recogni4ing that CDaE pre#re?uisite to determining with propriety what ought to be the money# unit of the =nited >tatesC is Cto form as accurate an idea as the nature of the case will admit, of what it actually is,/ $amilton referred to the resolutions of the ;ontinental ;ongress on the sub)ect, noted that they had resulted in Cno formal regulation on the point,/ and concluded that Cusage and practice M M M indicate the dollar as best entitled to that character./ +s to Cwhat kind of dollar ought to be understoodI or, M M M what precise ?uantity of fine sil"er,/ he sur"eyed the

"arious pieces in circulation o"er the years, and recommended that CDtEhe actual dollar in common circulation has M M M a much better claim to be regarded as the actual money unit./2J $amilton recogni4ed that CDtEhe suggestions and proceedings hitherto ha"e had for ob)ect the annexing of Dthe title of Gmoney unitGE emphatically to the sil"er dollar./ Bet, his personal "iew was that Ca preference ought to be gi"en to neither of the metals for the money unitC # at least CDiEf each of them be as "alid as the other in payments to any amount./ $e reali4ed, of course, that adopting e?ui"alent, interchangeable Cmoney unitsC of both sil"er and gold would pose practical problems Cfrom the fluctuations in the relati"e Dmarket#E"alue of the metalsCI but he suggested that this could be o"ercome Cif care be taken to regulate the proportion between them with an eye to their a"erage commercial "alue./2P Turning to Cthe proportion which ought to subsist between Dgold and sil"erE in the coins,/ $amilton proposed two CoptionDsEC% namely, CDtEo approach as nearly as can be ascertained, the M M M a"erage proportion M M M in M M the commercial worldCI or CDtEo retain that which now exists in the =nited >tates./ The first alternati"e Cre?uirDingE better materials than are possessed, or than could be obtained without an incon"enient delay,/ he recommended instead the domestic market#ratio of Cabout as & to &9./ CThere can hardly be a better rule in any country for the legal than the market proportion,/ he explained, Cif this can be supposed to ha"e been produced by the free and steady course of commercial principles. The presumption in such a case is that each metal finds its true le"el, according to its intrinsic utility, in the general system of money operation./2K .n the course of determining the method by which the go"ernment would defray the expenses of coining sil"er and gold brought to the mint bypri"ate parties ,the system of Cfree coinageC O80, $amilton restated the traditional policy against monetary debasement in emphatic terms% DREaising the denomination of the coin DisE a measure which has been disappro"ed by the wisest men in the nations in which it has been practiced, and condemned by the rest of the world. To declare that a less weight of gold or sil"er shall pass for the same sum, which before represented a greater weight, or to ordain that the same weight shall pass for a greater sum, are things substantially of one nature. The conse?uence of either of them is to degrade the money unitI obliging creditors to recei"e less than their )ust dues, and depreciating property of e"ery kind. MMMMM The ?uantity of gold and sil"er in the national coins, corresponding with a gi"en sum, cannot be made less than heretofore without disturbing the balance of intrinsic "alue, and making e"ery acre of land, as well as e"ery bushel of wheat, of less actual worth than in time past. M M M D+ debasement would causeE a rise of prices proportioned to the diminution of the intrinsic "alue of the coins. This might be looked for in e"ery enlightened commercial countryI but, perhaps, in none with greater certainty than in thisI because in none are men less liable to be the dupes of soundsI in none has authority so little resource for substituting names for things. + general re"olution in prices M M M could not fail to distract the ideas of the community, and would be apt to breed discontents as well among those who li"e

on the income of their money as among the poorer classes of the people, to whom the necessaries of life would M M M become dearer. +mong the e"ils attendant on such an operation are these% creditors, both of the public and of indi"iduals would lose a part of their property, public and pri"ate credits would recei"e a woundI the effecti"e re"enues of the No"ernment would be diminished. There is scarcely any point, in the economy of national affairs, of greater moment than the uniform preser"ation of the intrinsic "alue of the money unit. Hn this the security and steady "alue of property essentially depend.O& .n sum, $amilton recommended two e?ui"alent statutory money#units based on weight, a gold coin of 1O.J9 grains of fine gold, and a sil"er coin of 2J&.19 grains of fine sil"er. CDAEothing better,/ he wrote, Ccan be done M M M than to pursue the track marked out by the resolution Dof the ;ontinental ;ongressE of the Pth of +ugust, &JPQ.CO1 $amiltonGs #eport thus restated the traditional monetary principles of +merican law, as the ;ontinental ;ongress applied them, and as the 3ederal ;on"ention embodied them in the Constitution. ;ongress, $amilton urged, should adopt sil"er and gold as the nationGs monetary substances, at an exchange#ratio representing the a"erage proportionate "alue between the metals in the domestic free market. ;ongress should continue on Cthe track marked outC under the +rticles of ;onfederation and the Constitution by employing the CdollarC as the Cmoney#unit,/ or Cmoney of accountC # a sil"er CdollarC deri"ed directly from the >panish milled dollar, and a new gold coin containing a sil"er#CdollarGsC worth of gold. The go"ernment should pro"ide Cfree coinageC of both sil"er and gold for the public. +nd it should guarantee the preser"ation of the intrinsic "alue of the coinage. Hf enduring importance is $amiltonGs admonition that "6t7here is scarcely any point- in the economy of national affairs- of reater moment than the uniform preser$ation of the intrinsic $alue of the money unit. 8n this the security and steady $alue of property essentially depend" +pparently, howe"er, although $amiltonGs statue stands before the Department of the Treasury, his words ha"e been forgotten in contemporary 'ashington, D.;. 223 The Coina e Act of 19:2. @ittle more than a year after $amiltonGs #eport- ;ongress enacted its principles into law. The ;oinage +ct of &JK1O2 initiated a new statutory system embodying the constitutional principles that $amilton had reaffirmed. 3irst, ;ongress followed consistent +merican common#law tradition by continuing the use of sil"er, gold, and copper as CFoney./OO >econd, it reiterated the )udgment of the ;ontinental ;ongress and the Constitution that Cthe money of account of the =nited >tates shall be expressed in dollars or units,/O9 and defined the CDH@@+R> HR =A.T>C in terms of weight, as Cof the "alue of a >panish milled dollar as the same is now current, and to contain three hundred and se"enty#one grains and four sixteenth parts of a grain of pure M M M sil"er./OQ Recogni4ing that to adopt $amiltonGs suggestion of a Cgold dollarC would cause confusion and re?uire constant go"ernmental super"ision to Cregulate M M M LalueDsE,COJ ;ongress created no such coin, instead mandating the coinage of CE+N@E>,/ Ceach to be of the "alue of ten dollars or units,/OP that is, of the weight of fine gold e?ui"alent in the marketplace to 2,J&1.98 grains of fine sil"er. 3ollowing $amiltonGs recommendation, though, it fixed Cthe proportional "alue of gold to sil"er in all coins which shall by law be current as money within the =nited >tatesC at Cfifteen to one, according to ?uantity in weight, of pure gold or pure sil"er./OK +nd it made Call the gold and sil"er coins M M M issued from the M M M mint M M M a lawful tender in all payments

whatsoe"er, those of full weight according to the respecti"e "alues Destablished in the +ctE, and those of less than full weight at "alues proportional to their respecti"e weights./98 Thus, ;ongress did not establish a Cgold dollar,/ or enact a Cgold standard,/ as the popular misconception holds. 3or example, the ;ncyclopaedia <ritannica erroneously reports that the Cdollar M M M was defined in the ;oinage +ct of &JK1 as either 1O.J9 gr. ,troy0 of fine gold or 2J&.19 gr. ,troy0 of fine sil"er./9& The +ct did no such thing. .t explicitly defined the CdollarC as a fixed weight of sil"er, and CregulateDdE the LalueC of gold coins according to this standard unit ,or money of account0 and the market exchange#ratio between the two metals. Aowhere did the +ct refer to a Cgold dollar,/ only to "arious gold coins of other names that it "alued in Cdollars./91 ;ongress also pro"ided free coinage Cfor any person or persons,/92 and affixed the penalty of death for the crime of debasing the coinage.9O Thus did the first ;ongress # which knew what the Constitution meant if any ;ongress e"er did # rigorously apply the ;onstitutionGs mandate% .t determined as a fact Cthe "alue of a >panish milled dollar as the same is now current,/ and thereby permanently fixed the constitutional standard of "alue, or Cmoney of account,/ as a unit of weight consisting of 2J&.19 grains of fine sil"er in the form of coin. .t coined +merican CdollarsC as CFoney,/ containing this intrinsic "alue of sil"er. .t coined +merican CeaglesC as CFoney,/ containing a fixed weight of pure gold # and regulateDdEC their CLalueC at so#many CdollarsC by comparing their intrinsic "alue in ,weight of0 fine gold to the market#e?ui"alent of sil"er. .t ga"e both the sil"er and gold coins legal#tender character for their intrinsic "alues in all payments. .t opened the mint to free coinage of the precious metals. +nd it outlawed debasement of the nationGs new CFoney./ The handiwork of the statesmen who drafted and appro"ed these measures is more than a merely coincidental embodiment of the traditional principles of +nglo#+merican common law, the experiences of the ;ontinental ;ongress, and the explicit pro"isions of the Constitution. Rather, taking into account the "icissitudes of the time, the ;oinage +ct of &JK1 perfectly reflects what the common law and the law under the +rticles of ;onfederation had been before ratification of the Constitution, and what the constitutional law was then and remains today.99 .t is a definiti"e interpretation, elaboration, and application of the Constitution # with, in some of its sections at least, a clearly constitutional character of its own% in particular, >ections K ,definition of the CdollarC0, &O#&9 ,free coinage of sil"er and gold0, &Q ,legal#tender character for sil"er and gold coins0,9Q and 18 ,CdollarC identified as the Cmoney of accountC0.9J Fost importantly, ;ongressG determination of the proper weight of the CdollarC is, for all practical purposes today, a statement of constitutional law unalterable except by amendment of the Constitution itself. 3or, at the remo"e of almost two centuries, to check the accuracy of the conclusion that 2J&.19 grains ,troy0 of fine sil"er best represents an a"erage weight of the "arious >panish milled CdollarsC in circulation in the =nited >tates in &JK1 is most probably impossible. ;onclusion .n the light of this history, the present monetary pro"isions of the &nited States Code demonstrate that official 'ashington, D.;., has no conception of what a CdollarC really is. The reason for this self#imposed ignorance is ob"ious. By reducing the CdollarC to a political abstraction, the national go"ernment has empowered itself to engage in limitless debasement ,depreciation in purchasing power0 of the currency. + CdollarC that contains # and must perforce

of the Constitution contain # 2J&.19 grains of fine sil"er cannot be reduced in "alue below the market exchange "alue of sil"er for other commodities. + pseudo#CdollarC that contains no fixed amount of any particular substance per CdollarC can be reduced in "alue infinitely. +s debasement of currency amounts to a hidden tax, ;ongressG silent refusal to recogni4e the constitutional CdollarC amounts to the usurpation of an unlimited power to tax through manipulation of the monetary system. Thus, modern "money" has become a means for the total confiscation of pri$ate property by the o$ernment. Fore ominously, this scheme of surreptitious confiscation remains hidden from the "ast ma)ority of +mericans, who seem blissfully unconcerned about the issue most important to the soundness of the countryGs monetary system% namely, the character of the monetary unit. Hne need not be o"erly pessimistic to predict that misuse by politicians of the fictional, constantly depreciating pseudo+"dollar" to expropriate unsuspecting citi4ens will continue until an economic crisis finally shocks an increasingly impo"erished +merican people out of its slumber, and forces the people to ask the simple ?uestion% C'hat is a GdollarG:C +t that time, the answer will be no different from what it is today, and has been since &J8O + but the opportunity to use that )no(led e to pre$ent a catastrophe may be lon one. Therefore, those few who do know what a CdollarC is, and why that definition is important, need to inform as many of their fellow#citi4ens as possible. .f time has not already run out for re# education of the +merican people in this area, it is racing towards the historic exit. =nder these circumstances, silence by the friends of sound money and honest go"ernment is not Cgolden,/ but potentially fatal. A((endix ;,cerpts from the Coina e Act of 19:2 +ct of 1 +pril &JK1, 1 Statutes at =ar e 1OQ D1OQE ;$+*TER TL.. # An Act establishin a 0int- and re ulatin the Coins of the &nited States. >E;T.HA &. <e it enacted by the Senate and 4ouse of #epresentati$es of the &nited States of America in Con ress assembled- and it is hereby enacted and declared- That a mint for the purpose of a national coinage be, and the same is established M M M . MMMMM D1OPE >E;. K. And be it further enacted- That there shall be from time to time struck and coined at the said mint, coins of gold, sil"er, and copper, of the following denominations, "alues and descriptions, "i4., E+N@E> # each to be of the "alue of ten dollars or units, and to contain two hundred and forty#se"en grains and four eights of a grain of pure, or two hundred and se"enty grains of standard gold. $+@3 E+N@E> # each to be of the "alue of fi"e dollars, and to contain one hundred and twenty#three grains and six eights of a grain of pure, or one hundred and thirty fi"e grains of standard gold. S=+RTER E+N@E> # each of be of the "alue of two dollars and a half dollar, and to contain sixty#one grains and se"en eights of a grain of pure, or sixtyse"en grains and four eights of a grain of standard gold. DH@@+R> or =A.T> # each to be of the "alue of a >panish milled dollar as the same is now current, and to contain three hundred and se"enty one grains and four sixteenth parts of a grain of pure, or four hundred and sixteen grains of standard sil"er. $+@3 DH@@+R> # each to be of half the "alue of the dollar or unit, and to contain one hundred and

eighty#fi"e grains and ten sixteenth parts of a grain of pure, or two hundred and eight grains of standard sil"er. S=+RTER DH@@+R # each to be of one fourth the "alue of the dollar or unit, and to contain ninety#two grains and thirteen sixteenth parts of a grain of pure, or one hundred and four grains of standard sil"er. D.>FE> # each to be of the "alue of one tenth of a dollar or unit, and to contain thirty#se"en grains and two sixteenth parts of a grain of pure, or forty#one grains and two sixteenth parts of a grain of standard sil"er. $+@3 D.>FE> # each to be of the "alue of one twentieth of a dollar, and to contain eighteen grains and nine sixteenth parts of a grain of pure, or twenty grains and four fifth parts of a grain of standard sil"er. ;EAT> each to be of the "alue of the one hundredth part of a dollar, and to contain ele"en penny#weights of copper. $+@3 ;EAT> # each to be of the "alue of half a cent, and to contain fi"e penny#weights and a half penny#weight of copper. >E;. &1. And be it further enacted- That the proportional "alue of gold to sil"er in all coins which shall by law be current as money within D1OKE the =nited >tates, shall be as fifteen to one, according to ?uantity in weight, of pure gold or pure sil"erI that is to say, e"ery fifteen pounds weight of pure sil"er shall be of e?ual "alue in all payments, with one pound weight of pure gold, and so in proportion as to any greater or less ?uantities of the respecti"e metals. >E;. &1. And be it further enacted- That the standard for all gold coins of the =nited >tates shall be ele"en parts fine to one part alloyI and accordingly that ele"en parts in twel"e of the entire weight of each of the said coins shall consist of pure gold, and the remaining one twelfth part of alloyI and the said alloy shall be composed of sil"er and copper, in such proportions not exceeding one half sil"er as shall be found con"enientI to be regulated by the director of the mint, for the time being, with the approbation of the *resident of the =nited >tates, until further pro"ision shall be made by law. M M M >E;. &2. And be it further enacted- That the standard for all sil"er coins of the =nited >tates, shall be one thousand four hundred and eighty#fi"e parts fine to one hundred and se"enty#nine parts alloyI and accordingly that one thousand four hundred and eighty#fi"e parts in one thousand six hundred and sixty#four parts of the entire weight of each of the said coins shall consist of pure sil"er, and the remaining one hundred and se"enty# nine parts of alloyI which alloy shall be wholly of copper. >E;. &O. And be it further enacted- That it shall be lawful for any person or persons to bring to the said mint gold and sil"er bullion, in order to their being coinedI and that the bullion so brought shall be there assayed and coined as speedily as may be after the receipt thereof, and that free of expense to the person or persons by whom the same shall ha"e been brought. +nd as soon as the said bullion shall ha"e been coined, the person or persons by whom the same shall ha"e been deli"ered, shall upon demand recei"e in lieu thereof coins of the same species of bullion which shall ha"e been deli"ered, weight for weight, of the pure gold or pure sil"er therein contained% /ro$ided ne$ertheless- That it shall be at the mutual option of the party or parties bringing such bullion, and of the director of the said mint, to make an immediate exchange of coins for standard bullion, with a deduction of one half per cent, from the weight of the pure gold, or pure sil"er contained in the said bullion, as an indemnification to the mint for the time which will necessarily be re?uired for coining the said bullion, and for the ad"ance which shall ha"e been so made in coins. MMMMM

D198E >E;. &Q. And be it further enacted- That all the gold and sil"er coins which shall ha"e been struck at, and issued from the said mint, shall be a lawful tender in all payments whatsoe"er, those of full weight according to the respecti"e "alues herein before described, and those of less than full weight at "alues proportional to their respecti"e weights. >E;. &J. And be it further enacted- That it shall be the duty of the respecti"e officers of the said mint, carefully and faithfully to use their best endea"ours that all the gold and sil"er coins which shall be struck at the said mint shall be, as nearly as may be, conformable to the se"eral standards and weights aforesaid >E;. &K. And be it further enacted- That if any of the gold or sil"er coins which shall be struck or coined at the said mint shall be debased or made worse as to the proportion of fine gold or fine sil"er therein contained, or shall be of less weight or "alue than the same ought to be pursuant to the directions of this act, through the default or with the conni"ance of any of the officers or persons who shall be employed at the said mint, for the purpose of profit or gain, or otherwise with a fraudulent intent, M M M e"ery such officer or person who shall be guilty of any M M M of the said offenses, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and shall suffer death. >E;. 18. And be it further enacted- That the money of account of the =nited >tates shall be expressed in dollars or units, dismes or tenths, cents or hundredths, and milles or thousandths, a disme being the tenth part of a dollar, a cent the hundredth part of a dollar, a mille the thousandth part of a dollar, and that all accounts in the public offices and all proceedings in the courts of the =nited >tates shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. +**RHLED, +pril 1, &JK1.