Ch. 1: Gold and Silver in 1888

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	GOLD AND SILVER.

	Production statistics.—According to the Director of the Mint, whose statistics are accepted as authoritative in this report, the product of gold was 1,604,927 fine ounces, with the value of $33,175,000, in the calendar year 1888. This is about the same as in 1887, being an excess of only $75,000. The silver product, however, increased notably, being 45,783,-632 fine ounces in 1888, with the commercial value of about $43,000,-000, or a coining value of $59,195,000. In 1887, the silver product was 41,209,240 ounces, with a coining value of $53,441,300. The totals given above are the products from ores mined in the United States. In addition, some 10,000,000 ounces of silver were extracted in the United States from foreign ores and bullion, principally from Mexico. In the following table the effort has been made to distribute the totals to the States and Territories where produced, a task of increasing difficulty, owing to the extended practice of shipping ores to distant smelters for treatment and to the increase in number and importance of the sampling works. In the tables the increased importance of Montana and Colorado as producers of silver is especially apparent, the increase in Montana having been largely due to the heavy stimulus to copper production. Approximate distribution in round numbers, by States and Territories, of the estimated total product of precious metals in the United Stales during the calendar years 1881 to 1888, inclusive.

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