The following statement will exhibit the amount of the precious metals
estimated to have been obtained from the surface and mines of the earth,
from the earliest times to the close of 1884:--


Periods. Gold. Silver. Total.

A.C. $2,171,000,000 $2,913,000,000 $5,084,000,000
A.D. to 1492, 3,842,374,000 521,000,000 4,363,374,000
1493 to 1842, 2,700,000,000 5,800,000,000 8,500,000,000
1843 to 1852, 900,000,000 500,000,000 1,400,000,000
1853 to 1862, 1,869,000,000 560,000,000 2,429,000,000
1863 to 1884, 3,145,626,000 1,519,000,000 4,664,626,000
______________ ______________ ______________
Grand Total, $14,628,000,000 $11,813,000,000 $26,441,000,000


During the first period (prior to the commencement of the Christian
Era,) the annual product of the precious metals was $2,000,000; during
the second period (prior to the discovery of America,) it was
$3,000,000; during the third period (prior to the extensive working of
the Russian gold mines, in 1843,) it was $26,000,000; during the fourth
period (prior to the double discovery of the California gold mines in
1858, and the Australia gold mines in 1851,) it was $140,000,000; during
the fifth period (which immediately succeeded afore-mentioned
discoveries,) it was $243,000,000; during the sixth period (immediately
succeeding the double discovery of the New Zealand gold mines in 1861,
and the silver mines of Nevada and other countries bordering on the
Pacific slope of the United States,) it was $212,000,000. The annual