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UNITED STATES TREASURY DEPARTMENT

INFORMATION

RESPECTING

UNITED STATES BONDS, PAPER CURRENCY AND COIN,

PRODUCTION OF PRECIOUS METALS,

ETC.

REVISED JULY 1 ,1915

WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1915

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T reasury D epartment,

O ffic e of t h e S e c r e t a r y ,

Washington, July 1, 1915.

This publication, containing general information regarding United

States bonds, paper currency and coin, production of precious metals,

etc., has been compiled under my direction by the Division of Loans

and Currency of this office with the cooperation of other Treasury

offices. It is a revision of similar circulars of information issued by

the department in 1896, 1897, 1900, 1904, 1908, 1910, and 1912. All

comparative tables have been brought down to June 30, 1915, and

wherever other statistical information is set forth the latest available

figures have been used.

W . G . M cA d o o ,

Secretary.

a d d it io n a l co pies

OP THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D . C. AT 15 CENTS PER COPY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS.

I. HISTORY OF UNITED STATES BONDS SINCE 1865.

Debt at close of Civil W ar..................................................................................................... Credit-strengthening act........................................................................................................ Refunding Civil War bonds.................................................................................................. Resumption, gold reserve, and maintenance of parity................................................ Bond issues of 1894, 1895, and 1896................................................................................... Three per cent loan of 1908-1918........................................................................................ Two per cent consols of 1930................................................................................................ Refunding under department circulars of various dates, act March 14, 1900___ Panama Canal bonds...............................................................................................................

Act of June 28, 1902, section 8 ..........................................................................*.____ Act of August 5, 1909, section 39........... .................................................................... Act of February 4, 1910, section 1 ............................................................................. Act of March 2, 1911....................................................................................................... Panama Canal statement....................................................................................................... Postal savings bonds................................................................................................................ Certificates of indebtedness.................................................................................................. Refunding 2 per cent bonds................................................................................................. Interest-bearing debt June 30, 1915................................................................................... Average rate of interest paid on United States bonds................................................. Pacific Railroad bonds and settlements........................................................................... Insular bonds............................................................................................................................. District of Columbia bonds................................................................................................... Principal of public debt, increase and decrease, fiscal years 1860-1915................ Principal of public debt, increase and decrease, annual periods March 1, 1885, to March 1, 1915.........................................................................................................

Page, 7 8 9

11 12 13 15 16 17 18 18 19 19 19 19 21 21. 22 23 23 24 25 25

27

II. THE SINKING FUND.

Statement of purchases and redemptions for..................................................................

29

III. HISTORY OF COINS AND CURRENCY.

Monetary system of the United States..............................................................................

31

Denominations, fineness, and weight of United States coins....................................

34

Legal-tender and redemption qualities of United States money.............................

35

Gold coins...................................................................................................................................

37

Standard silver dollars...........................................................................................................

37

Trade dollars..............................................................................................................................

38

Subsidiary silver.......................................................................................................................

39

Demand notes............................................................................................................................

40

United States notes.................................................................................................................

40

Gold certificates........................................................................................................................

41

Silver certificates.....................................................................................................................

42

Treasury notes of 1890............................................................................................................

43

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Fractional currency................................................................................................................. Portraits, etc., on current issues of paper currency...................................................... Paper currency of each denomination outstanding June 30, 1915........................... Specie and bank-note circulation, 1800-1859, with amount per capita................. Coin and paper circulation, 1860-1915, with amount per capita.............................. Sales of gold.................................................. ............................................................................. Premium on gold and value of United States legal-tender notes from 1862 to

January 1, 1879..................................................................................................................... Total redemptions of notes in gold and exports and imports of that metal each

fiscal year 1879-1915............................................................................................................

Page. 43 44 45 45 46 49

49

50

IY. THE NATIONAL BANK CURRENCY.

Authorizing acts........................................................................................................................

51

Profits on circulation...............................................................................................................

53

Profits on capital invested.....................................................................................................

53

Additional national bank currency....................................................................................

53

National currency associations, with amounts additional circulation issued to

each...........................................................................................................................................

55

Amount of national bank circulation.................................................................................

57

Amount outstanding each year, 1864-1915......................................................................

57

Y. FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM AND CURRENCY.

Organization of system...........................................................................................................

57

Federal reserve districts.........................................................................................................

58

Federal reserve notes...............................................................................................................

58

Federal reserve bank notes...................................................................................................

59

VI. STATISTICS OF COINAGE AND PRODUCTION OP THE PRECIOUS METALS.

Table 1. Acts authorizing and discontinuing coinage, changes in weight and

fineness, and amount coined........................................................................

60

2. Coinage of the mints of the United States from their organization,

by calendar years.............................................................................................

63

3. Coinage, by pieces and values, fiscal year 1915.........................................

72

Additional coinages, year 1915, for certain Governments.......................

73

4. Fine ounces and value, gold and silver coinage, by fiscal years,

since 1873............................................................................................................

74

5. Monetary standards of foreign countries.......................................................

75

6. Coinage of nations, 1912,1913...........................................................................

78

7. Coinage of gold and silver of mints of the world, calendar years since

1873.......................................................................................................................

81

8. Production of gold and silver in world since discovery of Am erica..

82

9. Production of gold and silver in world since 1860....................................

84

10. Production of gold and silver in United States from 1792 to 1844 and

annually since...................................................................................................

85

11. World's production of gold and silver, by countries................................

87

12. Value of pure silver in a silver dollar, at prices per fine ounce from

$0.40 to $1.2929, or parity............................................................................

90

13. Highest, lowest, and average price bar silver in London since 1833

and the equivalent in United States gold coin, taken at the aver

age price..............................................................................................................

91

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Page. T a b l e 14. Bullion value of 371? grains pure silver at annual average price since

1837...................................................................................................................... ....... 92 15. Coinage value in gold of an ounce of fine silver at the ratios 1 :15-1:40. 92 16. Commercial ratio of silver to gold since 1687..................................................... 93 17. Amount, cost, average price, and bullion value silver dollar coined

from bullion purchased under act of February 28, 1878................... ....... 94 18. Amount, cost, average price, and bullion value of a silver dollar

coinable from silver purchased under act of July 14, 1890.............. ....... 94 In dex........................................................................................................................................... ....... 95

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INFORMATION RESPECTING UNITED STATES BONDS, PAPER CURRENCY AND COIN, PRODUCTION OF PRECIOUS METALS, ETC.

I. H IS T O R Y O F U N IT E D S T A T E S B O N D S S IN C E 1865.

DEBT AT CLOSE OF CIVIL WAR.

According to the statement published October 31, 1865, the public debt of the United States on that date was as follows:

Debt bearing interest in coin.

Authorizing acts.

Character of issue.

Amount out standing.

Authorized before the war ....................................... 6 per cent bonds................................ D o .............................................................................. 5 per cent bonds................................

July 17 and Aug. 5,1861............................................... 6 per cent bonds................................ Feb. 25, 1862.................................................................... ........d o .................................................. June 30,1864 ................................................................ ........d o .................................................. Mar. 3, 1865..................................................................... ........d o .................................................. Mar. 3,1864...................................................................... 5 per cent bonds................................ Mar. 3, 1863..................................................................... 6 per cent bonds................................

$37,754,591.80 27.022.000.00 189.331.400.00 514.780.500.00 100,000,000.00 44,479,100.00 172.770.100.00 75.000.000.00

Aggregate of debt bearing coin interest..........

1,161,137,691.80

Debt bearing interest in lawful money.

Authorizing acts.

Character of issue.

Amount out standing.

July 11,1862.................................................................... 4 per cent temporary loan............... D o .............................................................................. 5 per cent temporary loan............... D o .............................................................................. 6 per cent temporary loan...............

Mar. 1,1862..................................................................... 6 per cent certificates of indebted ness.

Mar 3,1863..................................................................... 5 per cent 1 and 2 year notes.......... Mar. 3,1863, and June 30,1864.................................... 6 per cent 3-year compound-inter-

est notes. June 30, 1864................................................................... 7-30 notes (3-year)............................. Mar 3,1865 ............................................................... ........d o ...................................................

$612,727.98 31,309,710.65 67,185,306.83 55,905,000.00

32,536,901.00 173,012,141.00

234.400.000.00 595.600.000.00

Aggregate of debt bearing lawful-money interest.

1,190,561,787.46

Total interest-bearing debt...............................

2,351,699,479.26

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Debt bearing no interest:

Demand notes........................................................... ......................................... United States notes.......................................................................................... Fractional currency.......................................................................................... Matured debt, interest ceased....................................................................... Unpaid requisitions..........................................................................................

$392,070. 00 427, 768, 499. 00

26, 057, 469. 20 1, 373, 920. 09 660, 900. 00

Aggregate of debt bearing no interest............................................ 456, 252, 858. 29

Total indebtedness of the United States................................................... 2, 807, 952, 337. 55 Cash in the Treasury........................................................................................ 68, 355, 578. 69

Total public debt, less cash in the Treasury............................... 2, 739, 596, 758. 86

The foregoing table does not include bonds issued in aid of Pacific railroads.

The first three items in the above table of debt bearing coin interest represent obligations which were negotiated prior to the suspension of specie payments, January 1, 1862, and were therefore sold for gold. A portion of these bonds was sold at a discount, the aggregate amount of such discount being $7,358,544.19. All the remainder of the obli gations stated in the above tables were sold at not less than par in United States notes.

Soon after the close of the Civil War the revenues began to exhibit a surplus over expenditures. This surplus was applied from time to time to the redemption of short-term obligations, which consisted of debt bearing interest in lawful money (United States notes). Such portion of these obligations as could not be redeemed for lack of funds was converted into 5-20 bonds, as authorized by the act of March 3, 1865. These transactions were completed by May 1, 1869. The Government then began using the surplus revenues in the purchase of its unmatured bonds at the market price in currency. The aver age price paid in May, 1869, was 115.84, which was equivalent to 82.72 in gold, or a discount of 17.28. These purchases were continued until September, 1873. The total amount purchased was $323,253,800; the net cost in currency was $362,981,483.79, and the net cost in gold was $307,702,207.64. The average price in currency was 112.27, and the average price in gold was 95.19.

CREDIT-STRENGTHENING ACT.

During the Civil War the necessities of the Government compelled the borrowing of money in many different ways. Some of the obliga tions issued for money so borrowed were admittedly payable in lawful money; but other obligations, such as the 5-20 bonds, while bearing interest payable, under the laws authorizing them, in coin, contained no specific statement as to the kind of money in which the principal

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