is thus but a medium of exchange and a
standard of value.

In the United States, as in most nations, money has always been made by
the Government, and the Government alone, so that one certain fixed
system may prevail. For the sake of convenience, money is made of
various kinds and denominations, and United States money may
conveniently be regarded under the five following divisions: 1. _#Gold
Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates.#_--There are six gold coins:
(1) the eagle, $10 piece; (2) the double eagle, $20 piece; (3) the half
eagle, $5; (4) the quarter eagle, $2.50; (5) the $3 piece, and (6) the
$1 piece. The three last are but little used. The gold bullion, or gold
in bars and blocks uncoined, is for all practical purposes as good as
the coin, and in foreign trade is much used, it being more convenient to
handle. Besides the gold coin and bullion there are in circulation gold
certificates. These are paper, the same in general appearance as the
ordinary bank-note, and certify that an equivalent amount of gold has
been deposited with the Treasurer of the United States, and that the
holder of the certificate has the right to obtain the gold for it at any
time. This does not increase the amount of money in circulation, as for
every one issued just so much coin is withdrawn and stowed away in the
Treasury. The certificates are used simply for convenience, and in order
to avoid the necessary wear of the coin if in constant use. These
certificates are of the denomination of $20.

2. #_Silver Dollars and Silver Certificates_#.--There is no silver
bullion circulating as money, for a silver dollar does not contain a
dollar's worth of silver, as the gold dollar does of gold, and the
silver bullion is thus of different value (less value), according to
weight, than the silver dollar. The silver certificates are similar to
the gold certificates, already described, and certify that an equivalent
amount of silver has been deposited in the Treasury.

3. _#Subsidiary and Minor Coins.#_--All coins of a lower denomination
than $1 belong to one or the other of these two classes. There are three
subsidiary coins, the fifty cent, the twenty-five cent, and the ten cent
pieces. The three cent piece is no longer coined. All other coins are
minor coins. The peculiarity of the subsidiary and minor coins is that
they are, as compared with the standard coins (gold and silver dollars),
of a greater value than the value of the metal they