should have it (the ore of gold or silver) the law would not permit
him to coin it, nor put a print or value upon it, for it belongs to
the King only to fix the value of coin, and to ascertain the price of
the quantity, and to put the print upon it, which being done, the coin
becomes current for so much as the King has limited.--So that the
body of the realm would receive no benefit or advantage if the
subject should have the gold and silver found in mines in his land;
but on the other hand, by appropriating it to the King, it tends to
the universal benefit of all the subjects in making their King able to
defend them with an army against all hostilities, and when he has put
the print and value upon it, and has dispersed it among his subjects,
they are thereby enabled to carry on mutual commerce with one another,
and to buy and sell as they have occasion, and to traffic at their
pleasure. Therefore, for these reasons, viz., for the excellency of
the thing, and for the necessity of it, and the convenience that will
accrue to the subjects, the common law, which is no other than pure
and tried reason, has appropriated the ore of gold and silver to the
King, in whatever land it be found."

The Supreme Court of the State, without considering the reasons thus
assigned in the case in Plowden, adopted its conclusion; and as the
gold and silver in the British realm are there held to belong to the
Crown, it was concluded, on the hypothesis that the United States have
no municipal sovereignty within the limits of the State, that they
must belong in this country to the State. The State, therefore, said
the court, "has solely the right to authorize them" (the mines of
gold and silver) "to be worked; to pass laws for their regulation; to
license miners; and to affix such terms and conditions as she may
deem proper to the freedom of their use. In the legislation upon this
subject she has established the policy of permitting all who desire it