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approved March the third, one thousand eight hundred and one, be, and the same hereby is, revived and continued in force and operation, until otherwise provided by law.

. And be it further enacted, That, for the purpose of securing a due conformity in weight of the coins of the United States, to the provisions of the ninth section of the act, passed the second of April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, entitled “,” the brass troy pound weight procured by the minister of the United States at London, in the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, for the use of the mint, and now in the custody of the director thereof, shall be the standard troy pound of the mint of the United States, conformably to which the coinage thereof shall be regulated.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the director of the mint to procure, and safely to keep a series of standard weights, corresponding to the aforesaid troy pound, consisting of an one pound weight, and the requisite subdivisions and multiples thereof, from the hundredth part of a grain to twenty-five pounds; and that the troy weights ordinarily employed in the transactions of the mint, shall be regulated according to the above standards, at least once in every year, under his inspection; and their accuracy tested annually in the presence of the assay commissioners, on the day of the annual assay.

. And be it further enacted, That, when silver bullion, brought to the mint for coinage, is found to require the operation of the test, the expense of the materials employed in the process, together with a reasonable allowance for the wastage necessarily arising therefrom, to be determined by the melter and refiner of the mint, with the approbation of the director, shall be retained from such deposit, and accounted for by the treasurer of the mint to the treasury of the United States.

. And be it further enacted, That, when silver bullion, brought to the mint for coinage, shall be found to contain a proportion of gold, the separation thereof shall be effected at the expense of the party interested therein: Provided, nevertheless, That, when the proportion of gold is such that it cannot be separated advantageously, it shall be lawful, with the consent of the owner, or, in his absence, at the discretion of the director, to coin the same as an ordinary deposit of silver.

. And be it further enacted, That the director of the mint may employ the requisite number of clerks, at a compensation not exceeding in the whole the sum of seventeen hundred dollars, and such number of workmen and assistants as the business of the mint shall, from time to time, require.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the director of the mint to receive, and cause to be assayed, bullion not intended for coinage, and to cause certificates to be given of the fineness thereof by such officer as he shall designate for that purpose, at such rates of charge, to be paid by the owner of said bullion, and under such regulations, as the said director may, from time to time, establish.

, May 19, 1828.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the forms of mesne