§ 4. #Light-weight fractional coins.# The standard metal is usually too valuable to be suitable for coins of the smaller denominations. Therefore, when gold is the standard, copper, nickel, and silver remain in restricted use. But when coins of these metals are issued at weights corresponding with their bullion value, difficulties arise. Not only are they too heavy for convenience, but with every slight rise in their bullion value as compared with that of the standard metal, they become worth more as bullion than as coin and begin to disappear from circulation. This happened often throughout the Middle Ages and until the nineteenth century. The attempt was generally made to coin gold and silver at a ratio of weight corresponding exactly to their market values at a given moment and, every time the market conditions varied, the best full-weight coins of one of the two metals were taken out of circulation. [4]The country thus suffered for lack either of the larger gold coins or of fractional coins. At length, to remedy this difficulty, fractional silver coins, often called "token coins," were issued, in limited numbers, of less than full proportionate weight and bullion value. This plan, having been partially tried, was generally adopted by the United States in 1853 at a time when the silver dollar of 371.25 fine grains was legally rated at the same value as the gold dollars of 23.22 grains, and was freely coined. The fractional coins were made a little over 6 per cent lighter per dollar than the dollar coin; two half-dollars or four quarters or ten dimes contained 93.52 cents worth of silver. Since then silver bullion has become worth much less in terms of gold, and for years past the bullion value of the silver in a dollar of silver small change has been between 40 and 60 cents. Why then has the fractional coinage a monetary value equal to the standard money, dollar for dollar?