Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ That the value of foreign coin as expressed in the money of account of the United States shall be that of the pure metal of such coin of standard value; and the values of the standard coins in circulation of the various nations of the world shall be estimated quarterly by the Director of the Mint, and be proclaimed by the Secretary of the Treasury immediately after the passage of this act, and thereafter quarterly on the first day of January, April, July, and October in each year. ”

“ The gold which the rupee represents is 1 shilling and 4 pence, or about 32 cents. But, as in this case the exchange value and the value as a fraction of a pound were the same, it does not matter to our decision whether we say that in such circumstances the action of the Secretary was conclusive or say that it was right.
We have shown that, in our opinion, the proviso, if not the body of § 25, would have warranted the action of the Secretary if it had been a later independent statute. We are of opinion that it is not to be construed differently because of its form. ”

“ We do so the more readily because, upon the public and well-known facts, it is not to be supposed that the imagined finding as to the value of silver was made, and the policy of the Treasury Department to adopt the exchange value of rupees was well-known and publicly declared. ”

“ Stat. 1901, p. 1886) . It is true that the difference referred to in the proviso is a difference from the proclaimed value, and that the proclaimed value has reference to standard coins. Whether, in view of this fact and of Rev. Stat. § 2903 (U.S.C.omp. Stat. 1901, p. 1922) , the words would cover a difference in value between paper expressed in terms of current coin and current coin, if paper were the currency shown by the invoice or the consul's certificate to be the currency to which the invoice referred, need not be considered. ”