Memorandum to James Monroe, 21 December 1791
Memorandum to James Monroe
[after 21 Dec. 1791]
The Spanish dollar | dwt grs. | dwt |
till 1728. had | 11– 4 | of pure metal in every 12 of mixed. |
from 1728. to 1772. | 10–21 | |
since 1772 | 10–17 | |
Extract from the Encyclopedie. |
The dollar of 1728–1772 being taken as our standard, we have this
grs mixed | grs alloy | grs mixed | grs alloy | |
proportion | 288 | : 27 | :: 416 | : 39 |
The base dollar of 1772 gives this
grs mixt | grs alloy | grs mxt | grs alloy | |
proportion | 288 | : 31 | :: 416 | : 44.77 |
Quere, whether it will not be better to let them retain their base alloy, because, if the bill passes the Senate, the extravagance of the alloy will render alteration in the lower house more probable, and also because an opposition which it is previously known will be unsuccessful, draws disreputation without doing any good.
MS (NjP: Andre deCoppet Collection); entirely in TJ’s hand; undated, but see note below; addressed: “Colo. Monroe”; endorsed by Monroe.
TJ must have composed these notes after a Senate committee headed by Robert Morris reported a bill to establish a mint and regulate coinage on 21 Dec. 1791 and before the proposal passed the Senate on 12 Jan. 1792 ( , i, 359, 373–4).