March 3, 1849.
Chap. CIX. — An Act to authorize the Coinage of Gold Dollars and Double Eagles.
Coinage of double eagles and gold dollars authorized.
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, struck and coined at the mint of the United
States, and the branches thereof, conformably in all respects to law, (except that
on the reverse side of the gold dollar the figure of the eagle shall be omitted,)
and conformably in all respects to the standard for gold coins now established by
law, coins of gold of the following denominations and values, viz.: double eagles,
each to be of the value of twenty dollars, or units, and gold dollars, each to be
of the value of one dollar, or unit.
Double eagle and gold dollar to be legal tenders.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That, for all sums whatever, the double eagle shall be a legal tender for twenty dollars,
and the gold dollar shall be a legal tender for one dollar.
All laws now in force in relation to the coins of the U. States to apply to the coins
herein authorized.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That all laws now in force in relation to the coins of the United States, and the
striking and coining the same, shall, so far as applicable, have full force and effect
in relation to the coins herein authorized, whether the said laws are penal or otherwise;
and whether they are for preventing counterfeiting or debasement, for protecting the
currency, for regulating and guarding the process of striking and coining, and the
preparations therefor, or for the security of the coin, or for any other purpose.
Weights of gold coins.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That, in adjusting the weights
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of gold coins henceforward, the following deviations from the standard weight shall
not be exceeded in any of the single pieces — namely, in the double eagle, the eagle,
and the half eagle, one half of a grain, and in the quarter eagle, and gold dollar,
one quarter of a grain; and that, in weighing a large number of pieces together, when
delivered from the chief coiner to the treasurer, and from the treasurer to the depositors,
the deviation from the standard weight shall not exceed three pennyweights in one
thousand double eagles; two pennyweights in on thousand eagles; one and one half pennyweights
in one thousand half eagles; one pennyweight in one thousand quarter eagles; and one
half of a pennyweight in one thousand gold dollars.
Approved, March 3, 1849.
Printed Document, 2 page(s), Public Acts, 30th Cong., 2nd sess., George Minot, Statutes at Large 9, 397-98