Free Coinage Explained

Coinage at the ratio of 16 to 1 means simply that the silver dollar shall weigh 16 times as much as the gold dollar. It does not mean, as some suppose, that the government shall coiu 16 silver dollars to every gold dollar. Free coinage means that the mints shall take the bullion presented by individuáis and coin it into dollars, hand them to the individual, and he and all others who get them can compel their acceptance for debts according to their face value. The amount of silver bullion required to make a dollar caji be bought now for about 50 cente.