MONEY AND CREDIT

419

Money and Credit.

The monetary system is monometallic, and has been so since 1873, gold Leing the standard.

The Act of February 28, 1878, commonly known as the Bland- Allison Act, required the purchase by the Secretary of the Treasury of silver bullion at the market price of silver of not less than 2,000,000 dollars or more than 4,000,000 dollars worth per month, the same to be coined as fast as so pur- chased into silver dollars. 378,166,793 silver dollars were coined under the Bland- Alison Act. The Act of July 14, 1890, known as the Sherman Act, required the purchase of 4,500,000 ounces of hue silver monthly, which was paid for in Treasury notes issued as the silver was purchased. The total amount of silver purchased under this Act from August 13, 1890, to November 1, 1893, date of repeal of ttie purchasing clause, was 168,674, 682 five ounces, costing 155,931,002 dollars, the coinage value of which was 218,084,438 in silver dollars. From the bullion purchased under the Act of July 14, 1890, there were coined to December 31, 1901, 149,710,163 silver dollars. Under the Act of March 3, 1891, for re-coinage of trade dollars, 5,078,472 silver dollars were coined, making a total of 532,955,428 standard silver dollars coined from March 1, 1878, to December 31, 1901.

The following metallic and paper money was in the United States on December 2, 1912 : —

Description of money

Gold coin (including bullion in Treasury) . Gold certificates (law of March 3, 1863) .Standard silver dollars .... Silver certificates (Bland Act, February

28, 1878)

Subsidiary silver

Treasury notes (Sherman Act of July 14,

1890)

U.S. notes ("Greenbacks" of 1862 and

1863)

National bank notes

Total

In the United States

Dollars

1,867,348,261

500,465,020

173,340,756

2,813,000

346,681,016 750,185,776

In Treasury In Circulation

Dollars 177,795,980 126,588,360

1,696,226

9,572,337 19,300,084

8,440

5,824,179 27,800,403

3,705,833,829 : 368,556,009

Dollars

621,206,112

971,757,809

74,190,794

480,035,663 154,040,672 ]

■i fj. 2,804,560 j

340,856,837 722,385,373

3,337,277,820

The coinage of the United States mints in six calendar years wa.s as follows, in dollars : —

—

1907

1908

131,638,632

12,391,777

1,468,739

1909

1910

1911

1912

Gold .

Silver. Minor.

131,907,490

13,178,436

3,042,126

88,776,908 8,087,852 1,756,389

104,723,735 3,740,468 3,036,929

56,176,822 6,457,301 3,156,726

17,498,522 7,340,995 2,577,386

Total

148,128,052

145,499,148

98,621,149

111,501,132

65,790,849

27,416,903

The note issue of each of the national banks is by law more than covered by United States interest-bearing bonds deposited with the Treasurer of the United States. The amount of the bonds thus deposited was, on Ncs ember 30, 1908, 715,560,170 dollars. The aggregate resources and liabilities of the national banks, 7,397 in number, September 4, 1912, were : —

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