Excerpt from Considerations on the Currency and Banking System of the United States The American mines, or washings of gold, are in the same manner more fertile, or, with the same labor, produce much greater quantities of pure metal than those of Europe. But the difference must have been less with respect to gold than to silver mines. The relative value of gold to silver was, before the discovery of America, at the ratio of 11 or 12, and is now at that of 15 or 16 to 1. If the depreciation in the value of silver has been at the rate of 4'to 1, that of gold has been only at 'the rate of about 3 to l and this may adhra some reason to think, that, of the two metals, gold is probably the most permanent standard of value. It must be observed, that, though wanted for similar purposes, the relative value of gold to silver does not depend on any supposed similarity or connexion between the two metals, but is the result of their respective prime cost, which determines the value of each in relation to that of all other commodities. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.