William Howard Taft: Special Message

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Special Message
February 7, 1910

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To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I submit herewith copy of a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury inclosing a memorandum and letter from the Director of the Mint relative to a modification of the deviations now allowed by law from the standard weight of the silver coins of the United States.

The Secretary of the Treasury approves of the suggestion of the Director of the Mint, and it is recommended by both that section 3536 of the Revised Statutes be amended by striking out the following words:

And in weighing a large number of pieces together, when delivered by the coiner to the superintendent, and by the superintendent to the depositor, the deviations from the standard weight shall not exceed two-hundredths of an ounce in one thousand dollars, half-dollars, or quarter-dollars, and one-hundredth of an ounce in one thousand dimes.

From the memorandum prepared by the Director of the Mint it is apparent that a saving in the manufacture of subsidiary silver coin would be effected by amending section 3536 of the Revised Statutes as proposed, and I recommend that favorable action be taken by the Congress.

WILLIAM H. TAFT

Note: This Message was accompanied by a letter from the Director of the Mint to the effect that as the present law provides that individual half dollars, quarter dollars, and dimes may deviate 1.5 grains from standard weight, 1,000 of these coins might weigh 1,500 grains below standard and yet, as individual coins, be acceptable; whereas, under the law governing deliveries of coins in quantities, 1,000 half dollars or quarter dollars must be so mixed that the deviation from standard shall be only 9.6 grains, the greatest deviation allowable in dimes being only 4.8 grains per 1,000. To comply with this requirement each half dollar and quarter dollar must be weighed thrice, once by hand and twice by machinery, and then mingled so as not to exceed the maximum deviation. By dispensing with unnecessary weighing and mixing, the Government could decrease its annual expenditure by $30,000 at least, the Director of the Mint concludes.

Citation: John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA. Available from World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=68490.

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