Something for Fans of 16:1 (Ag:Au) and Long Division

RogerB

During late 1843 and into 1844 Congress was considering (again) authorizing a gold dollar coin. Mint Director Patterson did not like the idea, but performed his duties, including calculating the ratios of value and specific gravity for the Standard Silver Dollar and a new Standard Gold Dollar.

Enjoy this historical tidbit.

Coinosaurus

I wonder if the current (acting) Mint director could do the same calculation on paper. Not a knock on them, more of an observation on the ubiquity of the calculator.

epcjimi1

Can confirm.

27 over 16 times 16 over 1 = 27

RogerB

@Coinosaurus said:
I wonder if the current (acting) Mint director could do the same calculation on paper. Not a knock on them, more of an observation on the ubiquity of the calculator.

How many of us chickens could complete the calculation manually?

BruceS

That's very interesting. I believe calculating machines have been around since the 17th century but don't think they where widely available until very late 1800s to early 1900s. They were probably rare and expensive, up until electronic versions in the 1960s. But you would think the mint had one of the mechanical units early on.

CaptHenway

I do not understand the point of his exercise. Is he just trying to say that a standard silver dollar has 27 times the volume of the proposed gold dollar?

roadrunner

I always wondered how they came up with the 16-1 ratio when the actual mining results of the past hundreds (and likely thousands) of years shows an approx ratio pulled out of the earth's crust to be approx 9-1. That ratio still works well today.

ricko

It has bee a long time since my hand calculating days.... In High School we could not even use slide rules (although a non credit class was offered after school hours). The hand calculator was not imagined yet... Now, I am not sure if math majors even do hand calculations.... Cheers, RickO

BryceM

Think long division is bad? You haven't lived until you've mastered the technique of working out square roots on paper.

CaptHenway

@roadrunner said:
I always wondered how they came up with the 16-1 ratio when the actual mining results of the past hundreds (and likely thousands) of years shows an approx ratio pulled out of the earth's crust to be approx 9-1. That ratio still works well today.

The Law of Supply and Demand? Gold is more desirable, so there is a greater demand for it regardless of the supply?

messydesk

@RogerB said:

@Coinosaurus said:
I wonder if the current (acting) Mint director could do the same calculation on paper. Not a knock on them, more of an observation on the ubiquity of the calculator.

How many of us chickens could complete the calculation manually?

In ink.