2. The Trade-dollar is designed solely for purposes of commerce and not for currency. The weight is 420 grains. 3. The Standard Purity of the gold and silver coins is .9 pure metal, and .1 alloy. The alloy of gold coins is silver and copper; the silver, by law, not to exceed of the whole alloy. The alloy of silver coins is pure copper. 4. The five-cent and three-cent pieces are composed of copper and nickel. The cent is composed of 95 parts of copper and 5 parts of tin and zinc. CANADA MONEY. 85. Canada Money is the legal currency of the Dominion of Canada. The denominations are dollars, cents, and mills, and have the same nominal value as the corresponding denominations of U. S. Money. The Currency of the Dominion of Canada was made uniform July 1st, 1871. Previous to 1858 sterling money was in use. 86. The Coin of the Dominion of Canada is silver and bronze. 87. The Silver Coins are the fifty-cent, twentyfive-cent, ten-cent, and five-cent pieces. 88. The Bronze Coin is the one-cent piece. The standard silver coins consist of 925 parts (.925) pure silver and 75 parts (.075) copper. That is, they are .925 fine. 1. The gold coin used in Canada is the British Sovereign, worth $4.863, and the Half-Sovereign. 2. The intrinsic value of the 50-cent piece in United States money is about 463 cents, of the 25-cent piece 23 cents. In ordinary business transactions, they pass the same as U. States coin. ENGLISH MONEY. 89. English, or Sterling Money, is the legal currency of Great Britain. The value of a Sovereign in United States Money is $4.8665. TABLE. 91. The Coin of Great Britain in general use consists of gold, silver, and copper, as follows: 92. Gold. The sovereign, and half-sovereign. 93. Silver. The crown, half-crown, florin, shilling, six-penny, and three-penny piece. 94. Copper. The penny, half-penny, and farthing. The standard gold coin contains 11 parts pure gold and 1 part alloy; silver coin 37 parts pure silver and 3 parts alloy. FRENCH MONEY, 95. French Money is the legal currency of France, The value of a Franc in United States Money is $.193. TABLE. 97. The Coin of France consists of gold, silver, and bronze, as follows: 98. Gold. The 100, 40, 20, 10, and 5 franc pieces. 99. Silver. The 5, 2, and 1 franc, the 50 and the 25 centime pieces. 100. Bronze. The 10, 5, 2 and 1 centime pieces. The standard gold and silver coins contain 9 parts of pure metal and 1 part of alloy. The U. S. Congress, by the Act of 1873, fixed the weight of the silver half-dollar at 12 metrical grammes, so that 2 half-dollars are precisely equivalent in value to the 5 franc silver coin of Europe. GERMAN MONEY. 101. The New Empire of Germany has adopted a new and uniform system of coinage. The value of a Reichsmark ("Mark") in U. S. Money is $.238. A pound of gold .900 fine is divided into 139 pieces, and the part of this gold coin is called a "Mark," and this is subdivided into 100 pennies (Pfennige). The Coin of the New Empire consists of gold, silver and nickel, and is as follows: Gold. The 20, 10, and 5 mark pieces. Silver. The 2, and 1 mark, and the 20-penny pieces. Nickel. The 10, and the 5-penny, and pieces of less valuation. 103. Japan has a new and decimal system of coinage. The Unit of Japan money is the gold Yen, valued at $.997 U. States Money. The Coin of Japan embraces five gold coins, valued at $20, $10, $5, $2, and $1, respectively. Also five silver coins, valued at 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 cents, respectively. 104. U. S. Bonds are of two kinds; viz., those which are payable at a fixed date, and those which, while payable at a fixed date, may be paid at an earlier specified time, according as the government may elect. 1. The former are quoted in commercial transactions by the rate of interest which they bear; thus, United States bonds bearing 6% interest are quoted U. S. 6's. The latter are quoted in commercial transactions by a combination of the two dates; thus, U. S. 5-20'8, or U. S. 6'8 5-20, mean bonds of U. S., bearing 6% interest, and payable in 5 or 20 years, as the Government may choose. 2. When it is necessary to distinguish different issues bearing the same rate of interest, the year at which they become due is also mentioned; thus, U. S. 5's of '71; U. S. 5'8 of "74; U. S. 6's, 5-20, of '84; U. S. 6's, 5-20, of '85. 3. The 5-20's were issued in 1862, '64, '65, '67, and '70. They bear interest at 6%, paid semi-annually in gold, except the issue of 1870, called 5's of '81, which bear int. at 5%, paid quarterly in gold. STOCK TABLE, 105. Showing the rate of Interest received on Stocks purchased, from 25 per cent. discount to 25 per cent. premium. |