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2323
A Bill for the Free Coinage of Gold and Silver.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the unit of value in the United States shall be the standard silver dollar as now coined, consisting of 412 Ë grains standard silver, or the gold dollar of 25.8 grains standard gold; that the standard gold and silver coins of the United States shall be a legal tender in payment of all debts, public and private. Any holder of gold or silver bullion of the value of $100 or more, of standard fineness, shall be entitled to have the same struck into any authorized standard coins of the United States, free of charge, at the mints of the United States, or the owner of the bullion may deposit the same at such mints and receive therefor coin notes equal in amount to the coinage value of the bullion deposited, and the bullion thereupon shall become the property of the Government. That the coin notes so issued shall be in denominations not less than $1 nor more than $500, and shall be legal tender in like manner and invested with the same monetary uses as the standard gold and silver coins of the United States.
SEC. 2. That after the passage of this act it shall not be lawful to issue or reissue gold or silver certificates or Treasury notes provided for in the act of July 14, 1890, entitled "An act directing the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of Treasury notes thereon, and for other purposes." That all such certificates and Treasury notes when received in the Treasury shall be canceled and destroyed and coin notes provided for in the first section of this act shall be issued in lieu of the certificates and Treasury notes so canceled and destroyed: Provided, That nothing herein shall be construed to change, modify, or alter the legal-tender character of such certificates or notes now issued.
SEC. 3. That the coin notes herein authorized may be reissued, but the amount at any time outstanding shall not be greater or less than the value of the coin and the bullion at coining value held in the Treasury.
SEC. 4. That any holder of full legal-tender gold or silver coins of the United States, to the amount of $10 or more, may deposit the same at the Treasury or any subtreasury of the United States and receive therefor coin notes herein authorized.
SEC. 5. That the act of July 14, 1890, hereinbefore cited, be, and the same is hereby, repealed.
SEC. 6. That so soon as France shall reopen her mints to the free and unrestricted coinage of silver at her present ratio, namely, 15 Ë pounds of silver to be worth 1 pound of gold, troy, it shall be the duty of the President of the United States to immediately make public proclamation of that fact, whereupon the said ratio shall be the legal ratio in the United States, and thereafter the standard silver dollar shall consist of 400 grains of standard silver, and the laws relating to the standard silver dollars of 412 Ë grains standard silver shall be applicable to the new dollar of 400 grains standard silver. That the silver dollars of 412 Ë grains then in the Treasury or thereafter coming in to the Treasury shall immediately and as fast as practicable be coined into dollars of 400 grains standard silver. Any gain or seigniorage arising therefrom shall be accounted for and paid into the Treasury.
SEC. 7. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and required to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this act.