In  1702,  the  relative  value  of  gold  to  silver,  in  this
country,  was  established  as  being  fifteen  to  one.  There
was  no  discussion  about  it,  except  whether  the  dollar  should
have  on  it.  the  head  of  liberty  or  of  the  President.  This
enactment  drove  gold  out  of  the  country,  because  it  was
worth  more  than  fifteen  to  one.  It  demonetized  gold.  In
1834,  Congress  reduced  the  weight  of  gold,  making  one
ounce  of  gold  worth  sixteen  of  silver.  This  was  as  much
too  low  as  the  other  was  too  high.  Now,  silver  was  so
valuable  that  it  left  the  country,  and  we  had  nothing  but
gold.  In  1853,  an  attempt  was  made  to  correct  this  evil,
for  small  change  became  scarce.  It  was  done,  so  far  as
small  change  was  concerned,  by  making  the  half  dollar  four
teen  and  a  quarter  grains  lighter  than  before,  and  other
subsidiary  coin  in  proportion,  and  making  no  change  in  the
dollar.  This  brought  the  small  change  in,  but  excluded
the  dollar  still,  so  that  we  had  only  gold  dollars.  Between
1 853  and  1861 ,  $48,000,000  of  small  silver  was  issued.  In
1873,  the  value  of  gold  was  slightly  increased  by  allowing
free  coinage,  and  of  silver  by  adding  nearly  a  grain  to  the
half  dollar,  and  as  the  silver  dollar  was  worth  more  than
the  gold  dollar,  it  had  left  the  country,  and,  in  revising  the
statutes,  was  dropped.  By  the  same  bill  the  trade  dollar
was  authorized  to  be  coined  for  any  who  would  pay  the
cost  of  coining,  and  the  mistake  about  it  was  that  it  was
made  a  legal  tender  to  the  amount  of  five  dollars;  thus
putting  it  in  the  power  of  private  individuals  to  increase
indefinitely  the  legal-tender  circulation.  Mr.  Sherman
urged  the  repeal  of  the  legal-tender  character  of  the  trade


Xiv.]  COINAGE.  205

dollar,  rather  than  disappoint  merchants  by  suppressing  it.
