Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward полностью

At the time of these deliberations, Spanish silver coins, called pieces of eight, had already become the de facto monetary unit. An official commission had been established by the Continental Congress to sample the circulating coins in the country and determine their average value by weight and purity. Charts were published, and all coins of various origin were listed by comparative value.

Congress was already "regulating the value of" the nation's money by the time the Constitution was drafted. How these coins became dollars is an interesting story. Edwin Vieira tells us:

Monetary historians generally first associate the dollar with one Count Schlick, who began striking such silver coins in 1519 in J o a c h i m ' s T h a i , B a v a r i a . T h e n c a l l e d "Schlicktenthalers" o r

"Joachimsthalers," the coins became known simply as "thalers," which transliterated into "dollars." Interestingly, the American colonies did not adopt the dollar from England, but from Spain. Under that country's monetary reform of 1497, the silver real became the Spanish money-unit, or unit of account. A new coin consisting of eight reales also appeared. Variously known as pesos, duros, piezas de ocho ("pieces THE LOST TREASURE MAP

319

of eight"), or Spanish dollars (because of their similarity in weight and fineness to the thaler), the coins quickly achieved predominance in financial markets of the New World because of Spain's then-important commercial and political position.1

In 1785, Thomas Jefferson urged the adoption of the Spanish silver dollar as the nation's official monetary unit. In a pamphlet submitted to the delegates of the Continental Congress, he said: Taking into our view all money transactions, great and small, I question if a common measure, of more convenient size than the dollar, could be proposed.... The unit or dollar is a known coin, and the most familiar of all to the minds of people. It is already adopted from south to north; has identified our currency, and therefore happily offers itself as an unit already introduced.2

On July 6, 1785, Congress unanimously voted to adopt the

Spanish dollar as the official monetary unit of the United States.

Jefferson realized, however, that this was not sufficient. Although the coin had been one of the most dependable in terms of weight and quality, it still varied in content between issues, and a way had to be found to rate one coin in value against another. That was, after all, the service that Congress was required to render when it was given the power to "regulate the value" of money. Jefferson came directly to the point when he said: "If we determine that a dollar shall be our unit, we must then say with precision what a dollar is. This coin as struck at different times, of different weight and fineness, is of different values."3

The logic voiced by Jefferson could not be ignored. Two years later, after carefully examining the actual weight and fineness of the Spanish dollars currently in circulation, Congress defined the dollar. After ratification of the Constitution, a dollar would contain 371.25 grains of fine silver, and all items in commerce, including other coins, were to be measured in value against that standard.

As the Spaniards continued to reduce the silver content of their coins, the pressure for the minting of an American dollar of predictable value began to mount. Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, in his 1791 report to Congress, urged the 1- Vieira, p. 66.

2. Propositions Respecting the Coinage of Gold, Silver, and Copper (printed pamphlet Presented to the Continental Congress on May 13,1785), pp. 9-10. Cited by Vieira, P. 68.

3- Ibid., p. 11.

320 THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND

establishment of a federal mint and also presented a powerful case for maintaining an inviolable standard for the coins to be produced by that mint. He said: