Now, all these pieces of metal belong to the same class of coin from the cent to the dollar included, and are merely token coins.
MR. MERCHANT: Well, what is a token coin?
MR. BANKER: A token coin is a piece of metal bearing the stamp of the Government, and passing at its face value, though the metal it contains is worth less than its face value.
This definition covers every piece of metal coin Uncle Sam makes except our gold coins, which are worth just as much and no more in the form of coin than they are in the form of metal, or gold bars. Now, Mr. Farmer, I want you to understand that the silver dollar is included in these token coins.
MR. MANUFACTURER: Well, please tell me why do people take these pieces of money at their face value, when they are worth so much less than they pretend to be?
MR. BANKER: For the very simple reason that Uncle Sam over there redeems all the coins, smaller than one dollar, when presented to him in sums of five dollars or more, and because it is made the duty of his Secretary of the Treasury to maintain the face value of our silver dollar with our gold dollar by exchanging gold dollars for silver dollars, if anyone asks him to do so.
If the Government should pass a law refusing to redeem our silver dollars with gold dollars, our silver dollar would then pass for just what the silver it contains would be worth from day to day. It is now worth 47 cents. In 1902 it was worth 40 cents. In other words, our silver dollar is not its own redeemer at 100 cents any more than the United States Notes or the National Bank Notes are their own redeemers. A silver dollar is a demand or a check calling for a gold dollar. The silver dollar, the United States Note, the National Bank Note all pass at their face value because they are convertible into gold, and are temporarily redeemed by Uncle Sam in gold, while gold is its own redeemer, and a ten dollar gold piece, or any other gold coin, is worth just as much, if hammered into a spike, or melted into a slug, as when it bears the stamp of Uncle Sam, certifying its quality and its quantity.
MR. LAWYER: Mr. Banker, what are subsidiary coins?
MR. BANKER: All these token coins are properly called subsidiary coins. Let me read to you what Horace White says on that point: