-Caveat Lector- from: http://peicommerce.com/history/monhist2.htm Click Here: <A HREF="http://peicommerce.com/history/monhist2.htm">Monetary History of the World by Martin A. Arms…</A> ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monetary History of the World ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Historical Outline Origins of Money Primitive Period Evolution of Banking Birth of Coinage 700-550BC 550-450BC 450-350BC 350-250BC ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Great Empires Greece Egypt ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Roman Empire Republic Imperial by Emperor ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Post-Roman Empires Byzantium The Papacy ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Empires of the East Carthage China Judaea Persia Syria ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Middle Ages 5th Century 6th Century 7th Century 8th Century 9th Century 10th Century 11th Century 12th Century 13th Century 14th Century 15th Century ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MODERN AGE Brief History of Interest Rates Paper Money ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By Country Africa Australia Austria Baltics Belgium Canada China Denmark England Finland France Germany Hungary India Italy Ireland Japan Korea Luxembourg Malaysia Mexico New Zealand Norway Poland Portugal Russia Scotland Singapore South America Spain Sweden United States ===== Monetary History of the United States Chapter IV 1792-1796 By Martin A. Armstrong ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The issue of establishing a federal monetary system was hotly debated for more than a decade. Many still held to their convictions that individual states should maintain their own authority to issue money. The debate over the monetary system of the United States came to a head when the Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1790. While Congress authorized private banks (Bank of New York & Providence Bank received charters in 1792), it was not until March 27th in 1792 that the authorization of the US Mint was signed into law, which was enacted shortly thereafter on April 2nd of the same year. Nonetheless, even after the US Mint was established, many in Congress continued to attack the very notion of a federalized monetary system. For some years to come, the opponents of the newly formed federal government took whatever opportunity they found to display their dissent in a vain attempt to reverse the authority over the monetary system. Coming on the back of revolution, this young nation struggled with the issues of federalization. One of the most heated debates centered on the design of the coinage and what effigy would symbolize the goals and image of the United States. The debate was split between the House of Representatives and the Senate with opposing views. The Senate preferred that the first coinage of the United States should incorporate the image of its President, who was naturally George Washington at the time. The House of Representatives favored an image of Liberty, arguing that while George Washington was an honorable man, there was no guarantee for those who would follow him in the years ahead. They also feared that allowing the image of the President to adorn the monetary system of the nation would in effect portray the image of a monarchy, which was greatly despised within the new republic. Washington himself agreed with the House and in the end, Lady Liberty was once again victorious. It is therefore in 1791-1792 that we find several different designs being struck in the United States as patterns or tokens. A series of bronze one-cent pieces have survived with the image of George Washington. While these early issues of 1791-1792 displaying the image of Washington were not adopted, it is important to note that they did contribute to establishing the American eagle, shield and stars as a theme that would ultimately live on to this day. Many of these Washington coppers were mostly tokens and a few did display a denomination. Some tokens were actually struck by the English for trade with the United States. None were actually struck by the US Mint in an official capacity as federal coinage. With the passage of the Act of Congress establishing the US Mint at Philadelphia in 1792, two engravers were hired to prepare the designs of Liberty for the proposed new federal coinage. Joseph Wright was favored by George Washington for the position of Chief Engraver, but he died shortly after preparing one design for a quarter-dollar. Robert Birch was placed in charge of the project along with Adam Eckfeldt. In 1792, three denominations were struck – copper one-cent, silver half-disme (half-dime) and silver disme (dime). Nonetheless, this issue is known as the "Birch" series and they were not popular from an iconigraphic perspective. The first official coinage to be released to the public appears in 1793. The denominations within this first officially sanctioned issue were only a half-cent and one-cent struck in copper. The half-cent was the work of Adam Eckfeldt who portrayed Liberty facing left with flowing hair and a cap or bow at the back of her head. The first one-cent design to appear was created by Henry Voigt showing Liberty facing right against with flowing hair. The reverse design incorporated a chain with 13 links symbolizing the union of the states. However, this design was short lived and replaced by a new version designed by Adam Eckfeldt with Liberty facing right and a wreath motif for the reverse. It was not until 1794 that the monetary system of the United States began to expand to incorporate large denominations. The flowing hair portrayal of Liberty gave way to a more groomed appearance on the copper half and one-cent pieces. Both now faced right and portrayed Liberty with a cap or large bow at the back of her head. A free flowing image of Liberty was used for the silver denominations designed by Robert Scot. Here we find a half-dime, half-dollar and a dollar all struck in silver. The silver dollar was struck at a weight of 26.96 grams with a fineness of only .8924. Gold finally made its entry into the monetary system of the United States in 1795. Two beautiful gold denominations appeared - $5 (half-eagle) and $10 (eagle). These strikingly attractive designs of Liberty wearing a full cap and the reverse displayed an eagle grasping a wreath in its beak. While these denominations were authorized back in 1792, the supply of gold and the need to strike common denominations prevented their prior issue. The $5 was struck at 8.75 grams with a fineness of .9167. The $10 was struck with a weight of 17.5 grams and at the same fineness of .9167. The wonderful flowing hair design of the silver dollar was replaced mid year with a draped bust version of Liberty. This new design would soon migrate to all other silver denominations the following year. In 1796 we see the introduction of several new denominations – 10 cent, 25 cent and $2.50 (quarter-eagle). The new draped bust design employed on the silver coinage was also introduced on the copper one-cent. The half-cent design of Adam Eckfeldt continued in use during this period. The gold $2.5 quarter-eagle maintained the design of the previously issued $5 and $10 denominations of 1795. Thus, it was not until 1796 that we find the full compliment of denominations that formed the monetary system of the United States. AU $10 (eagle) AU $5 (half-eagle) AU $2.5 (quarter-eagle) AR $1 AR 50 cents AR 25 cents AR 10 cents AR 5 cents (half-dime) AE 1 cent AE 1/2 cent ===== The monetary system of the United States remained unchanged until 1804 when the US Mint suspended the issue of silver dollars. No half-dollar coins were struck in 1804 but all lower silver denominations continued to be minted during this period. However, in 1805, the production of the silver half-dime was suspended and this denomination did not reappear again until 1829. The silver quarter was suspended in 1808 and it was not reintroduced until 1815. Therefore, only the silver half-dollar continued in production throughout this period with the exception of 1804. In 1808, the design of the copper one-cent was replaced by the creation of John Reich. Liberty was turned to the left and now had thick curly hair wearing a band inscribed with the word Liberty. This new design was introduced to the half-cent the following year in 1809. The War of 1812 with Britain was indeed costly. The British had even burned the city of Washington DC forcing the capital to be moved temporarily to Annapolis, Maryland. The only silver coin to be produced during the war was that of the half-dollar 1812 and 1814. The copper half-cent was also suspended thereby leaving the monetary system of the US comprised of only the copper penny and the silver half-dollar. Following the War of 1812, the monetary system of the US gradually began to return to normal. The silver quarter-dollar was reintroduced in 1815 but copper supplies remained tight and no one-cent pieces were struck during that year. The silver dime was not reintroduced until 1820 and the copper half-cent did not reappear again until 1825. During the "Hard Times of 1827-1843", there was a suspension of some denominations. The quarter-dollar was not struck between 1829 and 1830. The half-dime was reintroduced in 1829 due to the deflationary atmosphere causing a need for smaller denominations. The half-cent was again suspended for one year during 1830. Again, the two denominations to remain most widely in use were the silver half-dollar and the copper penny. As the economy began to recovery, asset inflation reemerged going into 1837. Just before what would become known as the Panic of 1837, the US silver dollar was reintroduced in 1836. We do find that a monetary reform was passed on January 18, 1837 were by the fineness of the silver coinage was raised to .900 while there was also a slight weight reduction. It was this monetary reform of 1837 that would establish the fineness of the US Silver coinage at .900 which remained in effect until 1965. Nonetheless, while the fineness became standardize, the weight of the denominations would vary over time. With the discovery of gold in California, indeed inflation within the US economy began to rise. The sharp increase in the quantity of gold led to its wider use within the monetary system itself. Congress authorized the use of gold to expand the denominations struck by the US government on March 3rd, 1849. For the first time in US history, we see the introduction of a $1 gold coin with a weight of 1.672 grams at .900 fine. We also find the introduction of a $20 "double eagle" with a weight of 33.436 grams at .900 fine, which was the equivalent of .9675 ounces of pure gold. In California, gold was everywhere and inflation was out of control. Private companies struck gold coins themselves with denominations as high as $50. US assay office also struck $50 gold pieces in an octagonal shape in 1852. By 1854, the US government began striking $3 gold pieces with a weight of 5.015 grams at .900 fine, which had been authorized by Congress on February 21st, 1853. In 1851, Congress authorized on March 3rd a new denomination to be struck in silver – three-cent piece. The design of this new denomination was also quite different. Here the obverse design displayed a six-pointed star. The reverse used a large ornate "C" within which the Roman numeral "III" appeared to clearly denote its value within the monetary system. The weight of this small silver piece was established at .80 grams and was struck with a fineness of only .75 silver between 1851 and 1853. In 1853, the weight of the silver coinage of the United States was reduced by 6.9% in response to the new vast supplies of gold coming from California. This reduction in weight was noted on the coinage by adding arrows to either side of the date on the coins in accordance with the Act of February 21st, 1853. The silver three-cent was reduced in weight to a mere .75 grams at .900 fine. Following the silver discoveries in the West, the weight of the silver coinage was raised in 1873, albeit modestly by 0.46%. In 1857, base metal values began to rise following the panic of that same year. The inflationary boom created by the gold discoveries created one of the deepest depressions in US history. In 1857, the Congress drastically cut the weight and size of the base copper coinage. The half-cent was completely discontinued and the one-cent was reduced in weight from 10.89 grams to 4.67 grams. The composition was also changed to encourage redemption of the old virtually pure copper coinage for the new small one-cent struck at 88% copper and 12% nickel. This new composition yielded a white metal appearance to the new one-cent to provide the image of greater value. The monetary reform of 1857 also marked the official adoption of a decimal system in the United States. Foreign silver coins had still circulated freely within the United States and the government provided an exchange program whereby it would redeem the old Spanish 8 reals (dollars) for 100 new pennies. With the eruption of hostilities between the North and the South over the issue of slavery following the election of Abraham Lincoln, credit and metal was in short supply. The copper-nickel composition of the penny quickly gave way in 1864 and a the Indian Head penny was now struck with a weight reduction from 4.67 grams to 3.11 grams with 95% copper and 5% tin. The three-cent piece was now struck in nickel abandoning its previous silver composition. While the half-dime continued to be struck during the Civil War, on May 16th, 1866 Congress authorized a five-cent piece to be struck in copper-nickel (75% copper and 25% nickel) would remain in effect until World War II. The quantities of this new five-cent piece, which American would eventually call a "nickel", were vast in comparison to the silver half-dime at a ratio of nearly 10 to 1. Eventually, the half-dime was discontinued in 1873. The Civil War was responsible for not merely changing the coinage within the monetary system of the United States, it was also responsible for the introduction of paper money for the first time since the hyper-inflation of the Revolutionary War period. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monetary History of the World by Martin A. Armstrong © Princeton Economic Institute DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
