f a dollar, or to the
pistereen:

4. The tenth, equal to a Spanish bit:

5. The five copper piece, equal to 5/100 or one twentieth of a dollar,
or the half-bit.

The plan reported by the Financier is worthy of his sound judgment. It
admits, however, of objection, in the size of the Unit. He proposes that
this shall be the 1440th part of a dollar; so that it will require 1440
of his units to make the one before proposed. He was led to adopt this
by a mathematical attention to our old currencies, all of which this
Unit will measure without leaving a fraction. But as our object is to
get rid of those currencies, the advantage derived from this coincidence
will soon be past, whereas the inconveniences of this Unit will for
ever remain, if they do not altogether prevent its introduction. It
is defective in two of the three requisites of a Money Unit. 1. It is
inconvenient in its application to the ordinary money transactions.
10,000 dollars will require eight figures to express them, to wit,
14,400,000 units. A horse or bullock of eighty dollars' value, will
require a notation of six figures, to wit, 115,200 units. As a money
of account, this will be laborious, even when facilitated by the aid
of decimal arithmetic: as a common measure of the value of property,
it will be too minute to be comprehended by the people. The French are
subjected to very laborious calculations, the Livre being their ordinary
money of account, and this but between 1/5 and 1/6 of a dollar; but what
will be our labors, should our money of account be 1/1440 of a dollar
only? 2. It is neither equal, nor near to any of the known coins in
value.

If we determine that a Dollar shall be our Unit, we must then say with
precision what a Dollar is. This coin, struck at different times,
of different weights and fineness, is of different values. Sir Isaac
Newton's assay and representation to the Lords of the Treasury, in 1717,
of those which he examined, make their values as follows:

[Illustration: Sir Isaac Newton's Assay, page137]

The Seville piece of eight . . . . 387 grains of pure silver
The Mexico piece of eight . . . . 385 1/2 "
The Pillar piece of eight . . . . 385 3/4 "
The new Seville piece of eight . . 308 7/10 "

The Financier states the old Dollar as containing 376 grains of fine
silver, and the new 365 grains. If the Dollars circulating among us be
of every date equally, we should examine the q