the means of converting produce, at a fair and fixed price, into the ordinary circulating medium of the country, will undoubtedly prosper in the same ratio as the mint itself.
The whole of the machinery now in use is of brass, and made in the town. There are three flies for stamping, each worked by eight men, who are paid according to the number of dollars struck off, at the rate of two reals each, the talega, or thousand. They often earn sixteen or twenty reals per diem, so that the coinage by each fly, in the working hours, must be from eight to ten thousand dollars. The dies are cut by an Italian, and the coinage is exceedingly good, though disfigured by the cap of liberty; which, however discredited in Europe, is still supposed in America to be emblematic of all that man holds most dear. Besides dollars, one and two Real pieces are coined, which are much wanted in other States.
The ores of Zacatecas have no Ley de Oro, and the mint no Casa del Apartado, in consequence of which the rich ores of Guarisamey were sent through Zacatecas to the Capital, where alone the separation of the gold from the silver could be effected. This has led, (as stated in the preceding Section,) to the establishment of an Apartado in Durango, where, probably, the gold ores from the whole of the North will, in time, be concentrated.
The State of Zacatecas contains a registered population of 272,901 souls. Of these, 22,000 are assem-
