The minor coins of the United States are a five-cent piece, weighing 77.16 grains, and made of a mixture of copper and nickel in the proportion of 75 parts of the former to 25 parts of the latter, a one-cent coin weighing 48 grains and consisting of a mixture of copper, tin, and zinc in the proportion of 95 parts of the former to 5 parts of the two latter materials, and a two-cent coin of twice this weight and made of the same mixture. These coins are legal-tender to the amount of twenty-five cents only, are redeemable at any subtreasury in sums of twenty dollars or more, and are delivered free of charge in similar quantities to any person who is willing to pay lawful money for them. Their supply is regulated by the director of the mint under the supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury, the purpose being to keep in circulation precisely the quantity which is actually needed for the commerce of the country.

B. The British Empire. - The present British Empire includes, besides Great Britain, a large number of dependencies situated in different parts of the world. The limits of this book render impossible a complete account of all the coins in circulation in the various parts of the empire, and we shall therefore confine our description to those of England, India, and Canada.

* Professor Laughlin, for example.

The coins of England, like those of the United States, may be classified as gold, subsidiary silver, and minor coins. The gold coins consist of one-half-, one-, two-, and five-sovereign pieces, the first two only, however, being generally used. The sovereign consists of 123.274 grains of standard or 113.001 grains of pure gold, the standard gold of England being thus 916.00 2/3 fine. These coins are legal-tender to any amount, not only in Great Britain, but also in Australasia, the Dominion of Canada, Cape Colony, Malta, Natal, and some of the West India colonies. In theory they are coined freely for any individual who deposits gold at the mint. In practice, however, a very small charge is exacted, on account of the mediation of the Bank of England. The gold destined for coinage is usually deposited with this bank, which pays for it £3 17S. 9d. per ounce if it is of the proper standard. This price is one and one-half pence less than the value of the gold as defined by law and recognized at the mint, and thus enables the bank to make a small profit, which is regarded as no more than sufficient to cover the interest on its advances and a moderate remuneration for its services. The chief regulations at present in force regarding the gold coinage date from June 16, 1816.

The silver coins of England are the crown, double-florin, half-crown, florin, shilling, sixpence, and threepenny piece, worth respectively five, four, two-and-a-half, two, one, one-half, and one-fourth shillings. The crown and double-florin pieces are coined in very small quantities and are not extensively used. The shilling, which is the unit silver coin, weighs 87 3/11 grains of silver .925 fine. The weight of the other coins bears the proportion to this one indicated by the values just mentioned. These coins are legal-tender only to the extent of two pounds, and they are manufactured on government account solely. They constitute a genuine subsidiary currency, like our half-dollars, quarter-dollars, and dimes. England possesses no coin which occupies the peculiar position of our silver dollar.

Her minor coins are pennies, half-pennies, and farthings, and they are made of ninety-five parts copper, four of tin, and one of zinc. One pound avoirdupois of this compound is coined into 48 pennies, 80 half-pennies, or 160 farthings.

The coinage system of the Dominion of Canada is in all essentials like that of the United States. The unit of value is the gold dollar, containing 25.8 grains of standard gold nine-tenths fine or 23.22 grains of fine gold. Accounts in Canada, as in the United States, are kept in dollars and cents. There, as here, silver coins are legal-tender up to ten dollars, copper coins up to twenty-five cents. The gold coins of Great Britain and the United States are legal-tender in Canada at their bullion value; that is to say, the sovereign is legal-tender for $4.86 2/3, the gold eagle of the United States for $10.00, and their multiples and subdivisions in proportion. The Governor-General of Canada also has the power to declare any other foreign gold coin legal-tender at its intrinsic value.

The coinage system of British India is important on account of the commercial relations existing between that country and England, and especially because of the part which it has played in the silver controversies of recent times. The unit of value in British India is the silver rupee, which consists of 180 grains of standard or 165 grains of pure silver, the standard silver being eleven-twelfths fine. The other silver coins are the half-rupee, the quarter-rupee, and the one-eighth-rupee. The rupee and half-rupee are legal-tender in unlimited amounts, provided the coins have not lost more than two per cent in weight and have not been clipped or filed or in any other way defaced. The quarter- and the one-eighth-rupee pieces are legal-tender only for fractions of a rupee.

The gold coins of India are the mohur, or so-called fifteen-rupee piece, the two-thirds mohur, the one-third mohur, and the double-mohur. The weight of the mohur is precisely the same as that of the rupee; that is to say, it contains 180 grains of standard or 165 grains of pure gold. Since the establishment of the gold standard in India in 1893 those coins have been legal-tender in unlimited amounts, the silver coins being issued in limited quantities and redeemable in gold.

The minor coins of India are made of copper, and are called the double-pice, or half-anna piece, the pice, half-pice, and the one-third-pice, or pie. The weight of the double-pice is 200 grains of copper, and that of the other coins in proportion. These coins are legal-tender only for fractions of a rupee.