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the purpose of preserving uniformity of weight, form, and fineness, in the coins stamped at said branch; and for that purpose, to require the transmission and delivery to him at the mint, from time to time, of such parcels of the coinage of said branch as he shall think proper, to be subjected to such assays and tests as he shall direct.

ed to this branch.

SEC. 5. That all the laws and parts of laws now in force for the regu- Laws respectlation of the mint of the United States, and for the government of the ing the mint and officers and persons employed therein, and for the punishment of all of- coinage extendfences connected with the mint or coinage of the United States, shall be, and they are hereby declared to be in full force in relation to the branch of the mint by this act established, so far as the same may be applicable thereto.

No permanent location to be

made or buildings erected till

SEC. 6. That no permanent location of said mint shall be made, or buildings erected therefor, until the State of California shall, by some law or other public act, pledge the faith of the State that no tax shall at any time be laid, assessed, or collected by the said State, or under the California has authority of the said State, on the said branch mint, or on the buildings agreed not to tax which may be erected therefor, or on the fixtures and machinery which may be used therein, or on the lands on which the same may be placed; but nothing in this section contained, shall be understood as implying an admission that any such power of taxation rightfully exists.

it.

Proviso.

Branch to be a

sistant treasurer

SEC. 7. That the said branch mint shall be the place of deposit for the public moneys collected in the custom-houses in the State of Cali- place of deposit for public fornia, and for such other public moneys as the Secretary of the Treasury moneys. may direct; and the treasurer of said branch mint shall have the custody Treasurer of of the same, and shall perform the duties of an assistant treasurer, and mint to be an asfor that purpose shall be subject to all the provisions contained in an act of U. S. entitled "An act to provide for the better organization of the Treasury, and for the collection, safekeeping, transfer, and disbursement of the public revenue," approved August the sixth, one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, which relates to the treasurer of the branch mint at New Orleans.

1846, ch. 90. Vol. ix. p. 59. Ante, p. 296.

Gold to be as

saved and cast

into bars or in

SEC. 8. That, if required by the holder, gold in grain or lumps shall be refined, assayed, cast into bars or ingots, and stamped in said branch mint, or in the mint of the United States, or any of its branches, gots, and in such manner as may indicate the value and fineness of the bar or stamped at expense of deposingot, which shall be paid for by the owner or holder of said bullion, at itor. such rates and charges, and under such regulations, as the director of the mint, under the control of the Secretary of the Treasury, may from time to time establish.

SEC. 9. That so soon as the said branch mint is established in the State When mint is of California, and public notice shall be given thereof in the mode to be established, designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, then so much of the "act for an assayer in former provisions making appropriations for the civil and diplomatic expenses of the gov- California reernment for the year ending thirtieth June, eighteen hundred and fifty- pealed. one, and for other purposes," as provides for the appointment of an United States Assayer, and the contracting for the assaying and fixing the value of gold in grain or lumps, and for forming the same into bars, be, and the whole of the clause containing said provisions shall be hereby repealed.

1850, ch. 90. Vol. ix. p. 531.

SEC. 10. That before the Secretary of the Treasury shall procure or Nothing to be erect the buildings provided for in the second section of this act, or com- done hereunder mence operations under any of the provisions of the same, at San Fran- machinery contill buildings and cisco, State of California, it shall first be his duty to make a contract or tracted for, at contracts, for the erection of said buildings, and procuring the machinery not more than necessary for the operations of said mint, at a sum or sums which shall not, in the whole, exceed the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, which said contract or contracts shall be secured by good and sufficient sureties, to the satisfaction of the said Secretary of the Treasury and the President of the United States.

$300,000.

No. 20. - AUGUST 31, 1852.

Stat. at Large, CHAP. CVIII. - An Act making Appropriations for the Civil and Diplomatic Expenses Vol. X. p. 76. of the Government for the Year ending the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and fiftythree, and for other Purposes.

Contract with assaying establishments in California.

1851, ch. 32.

SEC. 2. **** And the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to contract, for a term not more than one year, and upon the most reasonable terms, not exceeding one per cent., with the proprietors of one, and, if practicable, with those of more than one, assaying establishment in California, upon satisfactory security, to be judged by him, who shall discharge the duties prescribed and in the manner designated by the act making appropriations for the civil and diplomatic expenses of government for the year ending the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and fifty

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Stat. at Large, CHAP. LXXIX. An Act amendatory of Existing Laws relative to the Half-Dollar, Vol. X. p. 160. Quarter-Dollar, Dime, and Half-Dime.*

1853, ch. 96, § 7. Post, p. 743. Weight of the half-dollar and quarter, dime and half-dime, after June 1, 1853.

Such coins, when to be a legal tender. Purchase of

for such coinage.

Be it enacted, &c. That from and after the first day of June, eighteen hundred and fifty-two, [three] the weight of the half-dollar or piece of fifty cents shall be one hundred and ninety-two grains, and the quarterdollar, dime, and half-dime, shall be, respectively, one half, one fifth, and one tenth of the weight of said half-dollar.

SEC. 2. That the silver coins issued in conformity with the above section, shall be legal tenders in payment of debts for all sums not exceeding five dollars.

SEC. 3. That in order to procure bullion for the requisite coinage of the the silver bullion subdivisions of the dollar authorized by this act, the treasurer of the mint shall, with the approval of the director, purchase such bullion with the bullion fund of the mint. He shall charge himself with the gain arising from the coinage of such bullion into coins of a nominal value exceeding the intrinsic value thereof, and shall be credited with the difference between such intrinsic value and the price paid for said bullion, and with the expense of distributing said coins as hereinafter provided. The balances to his credit, or the profit of said coinage, shall be, from time to time, on a warrant of the director of the mint, transferred to the account of the treasury of the United States.

Such coins, how to be exchanged and paid out of mint.

Amount of coinage regulated.

No private deposits for said

coins to be received.

Depositors may have their gold

and silver cast into ingots or bars.

SEC. 4. That such coins shall be paid out at the mint, in exchange for gold coins at par, in sums not less than one hundred dollars; and it shall be lawful, also, to transmit parcels of the same from time to time to the assistant treasurers, depositaries, and other officers of the United States, under general regulations, proposed by the director of the mint, and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury: Provided, however, That the amount coined into quarter-dollars, dimes, and half-dimes, shall be regulated by the Secretary of the Treasury.

SEC. 5. That no deposits for coinage into the half-dollar, quarter-dollar, dime, and half-dime, shall hereafter be received, other than those made by the treasurer of the mint, as herein authorized, and upon account of the United States.

SEC. 6. That, at the option of the depositor, gold or silver may be cast into bars or ingots of either pure metal or of standard fineness, as the owner may prefer, with a stamp upon the same designating its weight and fineness; but no piece, of either gold or silver, shall be cast into bars or ingots of a less weight than ten ounces, except pieces of one ounce, of two ounces, of three ounces, and of five ounces, all of which pieces of less weight than ten ounces shall be of the standard fineness, with their

* Act of Jan. 18, 1837, ch. 3, sec. 9; 5 Stat. at Large, 137; 1853, ch. 96, sec. 7.

See 1853, ch.

weight and fineness stamped upon them; [but, in [all] cases, whether the gold and silver deposited be coined or cast into bars or ingots, there shall be a charge to the 96,7. Post, No. 22. depositor, in addition to the charge now made for refining or parting the metals, of Charge of half one half of one per centum ;] the money arising from this charge of one half per cent. to the per centum shall be charged to the treasurer of the mint, and from time depositor in all to time, on warrant of the director of the mint, shall be transferred into the treasury of the United States: Provided, however, That nothing contained in this section shall be considered as applying to the half-dollar, said silver coins. the quarter-dollar, the dime, and half-dime.

cases.

This section not to apply to

Gold coins of

Provisions of

SEC. 7. That from time to time there shall be struck and coined at the mint of the United States, and the branches thereof, conformably in $8 established. all respects to law, and conformably in all respects to the standard of gold coins now established by law, a coin of gold of the value of three dollars, or units, and all the provisions of an act entitled "An act to authorize the coinage of gold dollars and double eagles," approved March third, eigh- made applicable teen hundred and forty-nine, shall be applied to the coin herein author- to said coin. ized, so far as the same may be applicable; but the devices and shape of the three-dollar piece shall be fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury.

act 1849, ch. 109,

No. 22.- ·March 3, 1853.

Stat. at Large, Vol. X. p. 181.

Charge for casting silver into

disks, bars, or ingots.

Size and devices of the silized by act of

ver coins author

CHAP. XCVI. - An Act to supply Deficiencies in the Appropriations for the Service of the Fiscal Year ending the thirtieth of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three. SEC. 7. That when gold or silver shall be cast into bars or ingots or formed into disks at the mint of the United States, or any of the branches thereof, or at any assay office of the United States, the charge for refining, casting, or forming said bars, ingots, or disks shall be equal to, but not exceed, the actual cost of the operation, including labor, wastage, use of machinery, materials, etc., to be regulated from time to time by the Secretary of the Treasury. And the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to regulate the size and devices of the new silver coin, authorized by an act entitled "An act amendatory of existing laws relative to the half-dollar, quarter-dollar, dime, and half-dime," passed at the pres- 1853, ch. 79. ent session; and that, to procure such devices, as also the models, moulds, and matrices or original dies for the coins, disks, or ingots authorized by said act, the director of the mint is empowered, with the approval Additional offiof the Secretary of the Treasury, to engage temporarily for that purpose the services of one or more artists, distinguished in their respective departments, who shall be paid for such services from the contingent appropriation for the mint: And that hereafter the three-cent coin now author- Weight of the ized by law shall be made of the weight of three fiftieths of the weight of the half-dollar, as provided in said act, and of the same standard of fineness. And the said act, entitled "An act amendatory of existing laws Act of 1853, ch. relative to the half-dollar, quarter-dollar, dime, and half-dime," shall take 79, to take effect April 1, 1853. effect and be in full force from and after the first day of April, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, anything therein to the contrary notwithstanding.

cers in the mint.

three-cent coin.

No. 23. MARCH 3, 1853.

CHAP. XCVII.

An Act making Appropriations for the Civil and Diplomatic Expenses of Government for the Year ending the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and fifty-four.

Stat. at Large, Vol. X. p. 189.

Profits to be

rendered.

SEC. 1. **** It shall be the duty of the superintendent of the mint to cause to be paid annually into the treasury of the United States paid and account the profits of the mint, and to present a quarterly account of the expenditures of the mint to the Secretary of the Treasury. * * * * SEC. 5. That when private establishments shall be made to refine gold bullion, the Secretary of the Treasury, if he shall deem them

Refining of gold in private establishments.

Extended.
1861, ch. 44.

Vol. xii. p. 144,
§3.
Post, No. 27.
Proviso.

Purchase of United States

Stock.

Proviso.

Assay office to be established in

New York.

Treasurer. Officers and assistants.

Proviso.

Certificate of value of deposit

when receivable

for public dues.

capable of executing such work, is hereby authorized and required to limit the amount thereof, which shall be refined in the mint at Philadelphia, from quarter to quarter, and to reduce the same progressively as such establishments shall be expended [extended?] or multiplied, so as eventually, and as soon as may be, to exclude refining from the mint, and to require that every deposite of gold bullion made therein for coinage shall be adapted to said purpose, without need of refining: Provided, That no advances in coin shall be made upon bullion after this regulation shall be carried into effect, except upon bullion refined as herein prescribed.

SEC. 9. That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized to purchase at the current market price any of the outstanding stocks of the United States as he may think most advisable, from any surplus funds in the treasury: Provided, That the balance in the treasury shall not at any time be reduced below six millions of dollars.

SEC. 10. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and required to establish in the city of New York an office for the receipt and for the melting, refining, parting, and assaying of gold and silver bullion and foreign coin, and for casting the same into bars, ingots, or disks. The assistant treasurer of the United States in New York shall be treasurer of the said assay office, and the Secretary of the Treasury shall, with the approbation and consent of the President of the United States, appoint such other officers and clerks, and authorize the employment of such assistants, workmen, and servants as shall be necessary for the proper conduct and management of the said office and of the business pertaining thereto, at such compensation as shall be approved by the President: Provided, That the same shall not exceed that allowed for corresponding services under existing laws relating to the mint of the United States and its branches.

Receipt to be SEC. 11. That the owner or owners of any gold or silver bullion, in given for bullion. dust or otherwise, or of any foreign coin, shall be entitled to deposite the same in the said office, and the treasurer thereof shall give a receipt, stating the weight and description thereof, in the manner and under the regulations that are or may be provided in like cases or deposites at the mint of the United States with the treasurer thereof. And such bullion shall, without delay, be melted, parted, refined, and assayed, and the net value thereof, and of all foreign coins deposited in said office, shall be ascertained; and the treasurer shall thereupon forthwith issue his certificate of the net value thereof, payable in coins of the same metal as that deposited, either at the office of the assistant treasurer of the United States, in New York, or at the mint of the United States, at the option of the depositor, to be expressed in the certificate, which certificates shall be receivable at any time within sixty days from the date thereof in payment of all debts due to the United States at the port of New York for In what form the full sum therein certified. All gold or silver bullion and foreign coin deposited, melted, parted, refined, or assayed, as aforesaid, shall, at the option of the depositor, be cast in the said office into bars, ingots, or disks, either of pure metal or of standard fineness, (as the owner may prefer,) with a stamp thereon of such form and device as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, accurately designating its weight and fineness: Provided, That no ingot, bar, or disk shall be cast of less weight than five ounces, unless the same be of standard fineness, and of either one, two, or three ounces in weight. And all gold or silver bullion and foreign coin intended by the depositor to be converted into the coins of After assay, the the United States, shall, as soon as assayed and its net value certified as metal to be trans- above provided, be transferred to the mint of the United States, under mint and coined. such directions as shall be made by the Secretary of the Treasury, and at

to be cast.

Proviso.

ferred to the

the expense of the contingent fund of the mint, and shall there be coined. And the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, with the ap

proval of the President of the United States, to make the necessary regulations for the adjustment of the accounts between the respective officers, upon the transfer of any bullion or coin between the assay office, the mint, and Assistant Treasurer in New York.

Accounts.

SEC. 12. That the operations of melting, parting, refining, and assay- Regulations of operations. ing in the said office shall be under the general directions of the director of the mint, in subordination to the Secretary of the Treasury; and it shall be the duty of the said director to prescribe such regulations and to order such tests as shall be requisite to insure faithfulness, accuracy, and uniformity in the operations of the said office.

Laws respect

SEC. 13. That the laws of the United States for the government of the mint and its officers in relation to the receipt, payment, custody of depos- apply to said asing the mint to its, and settlement of accounts, the duties and responsibilities of officers say office. and others employed therein, the oath to be taken and the bond and sureties to be given by them (as far as the same may be applicable) shall extend to the assay office hereby established, and to its officers, assistants, clerks, workmen, and others employed therein.

SEC. 14. That the same charges shall be made and demanded at the Charges for assaid assay office for refining, parting, casting into bars, ingots, or disks, saying, &c. and for alloy, as are, or shall be made and demanded at the mint; and no other charges shall be made to depositors than by law are authorized to be made at the mint; and the amount received from the charges hereby authorized shall be accounted for and appropriated for defraying the contingent expenses of the said office.

SEC. 15. That the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to procure, Buildings for said assay office. by rent, lease, or otherwise, a building or apartments in the city of New York suitable for the operations of said office, unless he shall be of opinion that suitable apartments in the custom-house in that city may be assigned for this purpose. And he is also hereby authorized and directed to procure the necessary machinery and implements for the carrying on the operations and business of the said office.

SEC. 16. That the salary of the assistant treasurer of the United States in New York, from and after the time that the said office shall be opened and in operation, shall be six thousand dollars per annum, instead of the sum now allowed.

Salary of assistant treasurer

at New York.

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CHAP. CCXLII.

An Act making Appropriations for the Civil and Diplomatic Ex- Stat. at Large, penses of Government for the Year ending the thirtieth of June, one thousand eight hundred Vol. X. p. 546. and fifty-five, and for other Purposes.

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1837, ch. 3.

Ante, p. 733.

SEC. 13. That the seventh section of the act of January eighteenth, Clerks in the eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, entitled "An act supplementary to the mints. act entitled An act establishing a mint, and regulating the coins of the United States," be so amended as to extend the limit for the annual salary of clerks in the mint of the United States to eighteen hundred dollars each, from and after the first of July, eighteen hundred and fiftyfour, at the discretion of the officers authorized by law to appoint, with the approbation of the President of the United States, including also one clerk in the office of the assistant treasurer at Philadelphia, and that the salary of the chief clerk of the branch mint at New Orleans, shall be twenty-two hundred dollars from and after the first of July, eighteen hundred and fifty-four.

94

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