The Latin Monetary Union, Demonetization of silver in Great Britain in 1816, The exclusive gold standard of values impossible for all 141, 142 151, 152 144 140, 171 Growth of national debts in the last twenty-five years, PRICES OF COMMODITIES IN GOLD. Traffic has nearly quadrupled in twenty-five years, Table of the railroad mileage of each country in the world, England, Extent of the economization of currency by the clearing- house system, Agencies at work toward a new financial era, Revision of the laws of the United States in 1873, Coinage laws-all the clauses of all laws relating to the weight, fineness and legal-tender value of United States and foreign coins, from 1781 to 1876, chrono- The silver dollar the unit, Half dollars, their legal weights and values, 167 - 170-182 170, 171, 175, 176 Reduction in value of half dollars and other fractional coins. Legal method of computing the value of the pound sterling, Laws authorizing the issue and redemption of United States notes and bonds, chronologically arranged, from 1860 United States notes made legal-tender for all debts, - - - 186, 189, 190, 191 Amendment to Pacific Railroad Act of July 2, 1864, 194 Table of amount of each form of obligation of the United States outstanding, each year since 1860, - Authority of the Secretary to make interest-bearing treasury notes legal tender; Act March 3, 1863, [In addition to the above captions there are marginal notes which Notes, with gold at any price not exceeding 285, - 257,258 Tables 4 and 5.-Monetary Units of all Countries, with the declared values of their coins in United States Table 6.—Monetary Units of all Countries, and the declared values of their coins, January 1, 1876, THE MONEY SYMBOLS. N the cover of this book are grouped, in one design, ON the three emblems from which are derived the dollar symbol, $, and the pound-sterling symbol, L. The most prominent and interesting feature of the group is the two pillars, which were derived from the pillars of Hercules, one of the oldest symbols known to the human race. Their composition with the money symbols is due entirely to the emperor Charles the Fifth of Germany, who being also king of Spain adopted them as supporters on either side of his escutcheon, and also placed them in the device on the Spanish "pillar dollar" of the value of fifty-four pence sterling, which became the unit of Federal money in America, and upon the basis of which the pound sterling was valued at $4.44.44. Charles derived the idea from the poetic conceit which gave the name of "Pillars of Hercules" to the two mountains which stand on either side the Straits of Gibraltar, viz.: Calpe, or the Rock of Gibraltar, on the north, and Mount Abyla, in Africa, on the south. The scroll, which in the device on the dollar was twined about the pillars, has by long use been gradually modified, in making the symbol with the pen, so as to assume its present form in the dollar-mark. It is also presumed that in the pound-mark the was substituted for the scroll, thus still retaining the two pillars which 13 |