Recoinage gold coins. of Silver coins and their weight. Standard for coins. And the standard weight of the gold dollar shall be twenty-five and eight-tenths grains; of the quarter-eagle, or two and a half dollar piece, sixty-four and a half grains; of the three-dollar piece, seventy-seven and four-tenths grains; of the half-eagle, or five-dollar piece, one hundred and twenty-nine grains; of the eagle, or ten-dollar piece, two hundred and fifty-eight grains; of the double-eagle, or twenty-dollar piece, five hundred and sixteen grains. SEC. 3512. Any gold coins in the Treasury of the United States, when reduced in weight by natural abrasion more than one-half of one per centum below the standard weight prescribed by law, shall be recoined. SEC. 3513. The silver coins of the United States shall be a trade-dollar, a half-dollar, or fifty-cent piece, a quarter-dollar, or twenty-five cent piece, a dime, or ten-cent piece; and the weight of the trade-dollar shall be four hundred and twenty grains troy; the weight of the half-dollar shall be twelve grams and one-half of a gram; the quarter-dollar and the dime shall be, respectively, one-half and one-fifth of the weight of said half-dollar. SEC. 3514. The standard for both gold and silver coins of the United gold and silver States shall be such that of one thousand parts by weight nine hundred shall be of pure metal and one hundred of alloy. The alloy of the silver coins shall be of copper. The alloy of the gold coins shall be of copper, or of copper and silver; but the silver shall in no case exceed one-tenth of the whole alloy. [See § 5460.] Minor coins ; SEC. 3515. The minor coins of the United States shall be a five-cent their weight and piece, a three-cent piece, and a one-cent piece. The alloy for the five alloy. and three cent pieces shall be of copper and nickel, to be composed of three-fourths copper and one-fourth nickel. The alloy of the one-cent piece shall be ninety-five per centum of copper and five per centum of tin and zinc, in such proportions as shall be determined by the Director of the Mint. The weight of the piece of five cents shall be seventy-seven and sixteen-hundredths grains troy; of the three cent piece, thirty grains; and of the one-cent piece, forty-eight grains. Issue of other Inscriptions upon coins. SEC. 3516. No coins, either of gold, silver, or minor coinage, shall coins prohibited. hereafter be issued from the Mint other than those of the denominations, standards, and weights set forth in this Title. [See §§ 5457-5462.] SEC. 3517. Upon the coins there shall be the following devices and legends: Upon one side there shall be an impression emblematic of liberty, with an inscription of the word "Liberty" and the year of the coinage, and upon the reverse shall be the figure or representation of an eagle, with the inscriptions United States of America" and "E Pluribus Unum," and a designation of the value of the coin; but on the gold dollar and three-dollar piece, the dime, five, three, and one cent piece, the figure of the eagle shall be omitted; and on the reverse of the silver trade-dollar the weight and the fineness of the coin shall be inscribed. Deviations al lowed in adjust ing weights of gold coins. Of silver coins. Of minor coins. National and other medals may be struck at Mint at Philadelphia. SEC. 3535. In adjusting the weights of the gold coins, the following deviation shall not be exceeded in any single piece: In the doubleeagle and the eagle, one-half of a grain; in the half-eagle, the threedollar piece, the quarter-eagle, and the one-dollar piece, one-fourth of a grain. And in weighing a number of pieces together, when delivered by the coiner to the superintendent, and by the superintendent to the depositor, the deviation from the standard weight shall not exceed one hundredth of an ounce in five thousand dollars in double-eagles, eagles, half-eagles, or quarter-eagles, in one thousand three-dollar pieces, and in one thousand one-dollar pieces. SEC. 3536. In adjusting the weight of the silver coins the following deviations shall not be exceeded in any single piece: In the dollar, the half and quarter dollar, and in the dime, one and one-half grains. 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. SEC. 3537. In adjusting the weight of the minor coins provided by this Title, there shall be no greater deviation allowed than three grains for the five-cent piece and two grains for the three and one cent pieces. SEC. 3551. Dies of a national character may be executed by the en graver, and national and other medals struck by the coiner of the Mint at Philadelphia, under such regulations as the superintendent, with the approval of the director of the Mint, may prescribe. Such work shall not, however, interfere with the regular coinage operations, and no private medal dies shall be prepared at any mint, or the machinery or apparatus thereof be used for that purpose. SEC. 3563. The money of account of the United States shall be ex- Decimal syspressed in dollars or units, dimes or tenths, cents, or hundredths, and tem established. nills or thousandths, a dime being the tenth part of a dollar, a cent the hundredth part of a dollar, a mill the thousandth part of a dollar; and all accounts in the public offices and all proceedings in the courts shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. ascertained. SEC. 3564. The value of foreign coin as expressed in the money of Value of foraccount of the United States shall be that of the pure metal of such coin eign coins, how of standard value; and the values of the standard coins in circulation of the various nations of the world shall be estimated annually by the Director of the Mint, and be proclaimed on the first day of January by the Secretary of the Treasury. Value of the SEC. 3565. In all payments by or to the Treasury, whether made here or in foreign countries, where it becomes necessary to compute the sovereign or pound sterling. value of the sovereign or pound sterling, it shall be deemed equal to four dollars eighty-six cents and six and one-half mills, and the same rule shall be applied in appraising merchandise imported where the value is, by the invoice, in sovereigns or pounds sterling, and in the construction of contracts payable in sovereigns or pounds sterling; and this valuation shall be the par of exchange between Great Britain and the United States; and all contracts made after the first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, based on an assumed par of exchange with Great Britain of fifty-four pence to the dollar, or four dollars forty-four and four-ninths cents to the sovereign or pound sterling, shall be null and void. SEC. 3566. All foreign gold and silver coins received in payment for Recoinage of moneys due to the United States shall, before being issued in circula- foreign coins. tion, be coined anew. SEC. 3567. The pieces commonly known as the quarter, eighth, and Spanish and sixteenth of the Spanish pillar-dollar, and of the Mexican dollar, shall Mexican coins. be receivable at the Treasury of the United States, and its several offices, and at the several post-offices, and land-offices, at the rates of valuation following: the fourth of a dollar, or piece of two reals, at twenty cents; the eighth of a dollar, or piece of one real, at ten cents; and the sixteenth of a dollar, or half-real, at five cents. SEC. 3569. It shall be lawful throughout the United States of America to employ the weights and measures of the metric system; and no contract or dealing, or pleading in any court, shall be deemed invalid or liable to objection because the weights or measures expressed or referred to therein are weights or measures of the metric system. SEC. 3570. The tables in the schedule hereto annexed shall be recognized in the construction of contracts, and in all legal proceedings, as establishing, in terms of the weights and measures now in use in the United States, the equivalents of the weights and measures expressed therein in terms of the metric system; and the tables may lawfully be used for computing, determining, and expressing in customary weights and measures the weights and measures of the metric system. MEASURES OF LENGTH. Use of metric system authorized. Authorized tables of weights and measures. Metric denominations and values. Equivalents in denominations in use. Metric denominations and values. Equivalents in denominations in use. Title 39. SEC. 3584. No foreign gold or silver coins shall be a legal tender in Foreign coins. payment of debts. Gold coins of SEC. 3585. The gold coins of the United States shall be a legal tender the United States. in all payments at their nominal value when not below the standard weight and limit of tolerance provided by law for the single piece, and, when reduced in weight below such standard and tolerance, shall be a legal tender at valuation in proportion to their actual weight. Silver coins of SEC. 3586. The silver coins of the United States shall be a legal tender the United States. at their nominal value for any amount not exceeding five dollars in any one payment. SEC. 3587. The minor coins of the United States shall be a legal Minor coins. tender, at their nominal value for any amount not exceeding twenty five cents in any one payment. notes. SEC. 3588. United States notes shall be lawful money, and a legal United States tender in payment of all debts, public and private, within the United States, except for duties on imports and interest on the public debt. SEC. 3589. Demand Treasury notes authorized by the act of July Demand Treas seventeen, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, chapter five, and the act of ury-notes. February twelve, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, chapter twenty, shall be lawful money and a legal tender in like manner as United States notes. SEC. 3590. Treasury notes issued under the authority of the acts of Interest-bearMarch three, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, chapter seventy-three, ing notes. and June thirty, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, chapter one hundred and seventy-two, shall be legal tender to the same extent as United States notes, for their face value, excluding interest: Provided, That Treasury notes issued under the act last named shall not be a legal tender in payment or redemption of any notes issued by any bank, banking association, or banker, calculated and intended to circulate as money. Counterfeiting or silver SEC. 5457. Every person who falsely makes, forges, or counterfeits, Title 70, Chap. 5. or causes, or procures to be falsely made, forged, or counterfeited, or willingly aids, or assists in falsely making, forging, or counterfeiting any gold coin or bars in resemblance or similitude of the gold or silver coins or coins. bars which have been, or hereafter may be, coined or stamped at the mints and assay-offices of the United States, or in resemblance or similitude of any foreign gold or silver coin which by law is, or hereafter may be made, current in the United States, or are in actual use and circulation as money within the United States, or who passes, utters, publishes, or sells, or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or bring into the United States from any foreign place, or has in his possession, any such false, forged, or counterfeited coin or bars, knowing the same to be false, forged, or counterfeited, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars, and by imprisonment at hard labor not more than ten years. SEC. 5458. Every person who falsely makes, forges, or counterfeits, or Counterfeiting causes, or procures to be falsely made, forged, or counterfeited, or will- minor coins. ingly aids, or assists in falsely making, forging, or counterfeiting, any coin in the resemblance or similitude of any of the minor coinage which has been, or hereafter may be, coined at the mints of the United States; or who passes, utters, publishes, or sells, or brings into the United States from any foreign place, or has in his possession, any such false, forged, or counterfeited coin, with intent to defraud any person whatsoever, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars and by imprisonment at hard labor not more than three years. Mutilating SEC. 5459. Every person who fraudulently, by any art, way, or means, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales or lightens the coinage. gold and silver coins which have been, or which may hereafter be, coined at the mints of the United States, or any foreign gold or silver coins which are by law made current or are in actual use and circulation as money within the United States, shall be imprisoned not more than two years and fined not more than two thousand dollars. Debasement of of the SEC. 5460. If any of the gold or silver coins struck or coined at any of the mints of the United States shall be debased, or made worse as to coinage, &c., by officers the proportion of fine gold or fine silver therein contained; or shall be mint. of less weight or value than the same ought to be, pursuant to law; or if any of the weights used at any of the mints or assay-offices of the United States shall be defaced, increased, or diminished through the fault or connivance of any of the officers or persons who are employed at the said mints or assay-offices with a fraudulent intent; and if any of the said officers or persons shall embezzle any of the metals at any time committed to their charge for the purpose of being coined, or any of the coins struck or coined at the said mints, or any medals, coins, or other moneys of said mints or assay-offices at any time committed to their charge, or of which they may have assumed the charge, every such officer or person who commits any or either of the said offenses shall be imprisoned at hard labor for a term not less than one year nor more than ten years, and shall be fined in a sum not more than ten thousand dollars. Making or ut- SEC. 5461. Every person who, except as authorized by law, makes or tering coin in re- causes to be made, or utters or passes, or attempts to utter or pass, any semblance of money. nor coins. coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals, intended for the use and purpose of current money, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, or of original design, shall be punished by a fine of not more than three thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not more than five years, or both. Making or issu- SEC. 5462. Every person not lawfully authorized, who makes, issues, ing devices of mi- or passes, or causes to be made, issued, or passed, any coin, card, token or device in metal or its compounds, which may be intended to be used as money for any one-cent, two-cent, three-cent, or five-cent piece, now or hereafter authorized by law, or for coins of equal value, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not more than five years. March 3, 1875. Twenty-cent silver coin. Legal tender, for what sums. Deviation from An act authorizing the coinage of a twenty-cent piece of silver at the mints of the Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be, from time to time, coined at the mints of the United States, conformably in all respects to the coinage act of eighteen hundred and seventy-three a coin of silver of the denomination of twenty cents and of the weight of five grams. SEC. 2. That the twenty cent piece shall be a legal tender at its nominal value for any amount not exceeding five dollars in any one payment. SEC. 3. That in adjusting the weight of the twenty-cent piece, the standard weight. deviation from the standard weight shall not exceed one and one half grains; 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 deviation from the standard weight shall not exceed two hundredths of an ounce in one thousand pieces. Existing laws applicable to United States, and the coinage of the same, shall, as far as applicable, twenty-cent coin. have full force and effect in relation to the coin herein authorized whether the said laws are penal or otherwise and whether they are for preventing counterfeiting or abasement, for protecting the currency, for regulating the process of coining and the preparation therefor, or for the security of the coin, or for any other purpose. Approved, March 3, 1875. SEC. 4. That all laws now in force in relation to the coins of the COLLISIONS-RULES OF THE SEA. Sec. 4233. Rules for preventing collisions. Sec. 4234. Forfeiture of sailing-vessels for omission of lights. Title 48, Chap. 5. SEC. 4233. The following rules for preventing collisions on the water, Rules for preshall be followed in the navigation of vessels of the Navy and of the venting collis. mercantile marine of the United States: ions. STEAM AND SAIL VESSELS. Rule one. Every steam-vessel which is under sail, and not under steam, shall be considered a sail-vessel; and every steam-vessel which is under steam, whether under sail or not, shall be considered a steamvessel. LIGHTS. Rule two. The lights mentioned in the following rules, and no others, shall be carried in all weathers, between sunset and sunrise. Rule three. All ocean-going steamers, and steamers carrying sail, shall, when under way, carry— (A) At the foremast head, a bright white light, of such a character as to be visible on a dark night, with a clear atmosphere, at a distance of at least five miles, and so constructed as to show a uniform and unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of twenty points of the compass, and so fixed as to throw the light ten points on each side of the vessel, namely, from right ahead to two points abaft the beam on either side. (B) On the starboard side, a green light, of such a character as to be visible on a dark night, with a clear atmosphere, at a distance of at |