I want to know if there is any particular significance in this? Why change the gold and not the silver?"
"As silver was the unit" answered Coin, "more respect was paid to it than to the other metal. But there was another reason that would ordinarily have a controlling influence. I mean the cost of re-coining. There are about one hundred pieces of silver coin to one piece of gold coin. In coining ten million dollars in dimes, it requires the striking off of one hundred million coins. To coin one million dollars in quarters requires the striking off of four million coins. One million dollars in halves requires two million coins. One million silver dollars one million coins.
"While in making our gold money, comparatively few coins are required to be struck. One million dollars in ten dollar gold pieces requires only one hundred thousand pieces to be struck, and in twenties, 50,000. It would be much more expensive to recoin the silver than the gold. It would also be of great inconvenience to the government and the people to gather in all the silver coins, while it is of small inconvenience comparatively to collect in and recoin the gold.
"To re-coin the silver money is more expensive, and would take a much longer time than to re-coin the gold. But the greatest significance is in the fact that it was the money of the people. Its integrity and identity was respected by our forefathers.
"As our time to close the school for the day has arrived, we will now adjourn till 10 o'clock to-morrow morning." (Adjourned.)
Mr. Gage, and all those who, like him, had gone to hear Coin for the purpose of refuting his arguments, walked out of the room in a thoughtful manner.
They had previously reached conclusions that the
