Henry William DeSaussure in a letter, dated the mint office, October 27, 1795, to the President of the United States, George Washington, apologized for the length of his communication and said he was prepared to deliver the direction of the mint to his successor. He stated the coinage of gold had begun under his administration. He deemed it proper to state there was no copper in the mint fit for coining, and that the price of copper had advanced, and suggested the desirability of reducing the weight of the cent and thereby help in preventing its use by coppersmiths. He mentioned the important fact that the standard of the silver coin in use at the mint differed from the standard fixed by law. He thought that either the law should be changed or the standard used according to law. He suggested the desirability of having laws made to close up certain establishments making debased foreign coins and thereby curtailing the supply of gold bullion and degrading our national character. He referred to an attempt on the mint dies and implements with nefarious views. Elias Boudinot, in a letter dated at the mint, December 3, 1795, referred to the sudden death of Assayer Mr. Albion Coxe on the preceding Friday, and said “until this officer is replaced the business of the mint would be confined to striking cents only.” In the same letter he recommended, among other things, “that some proper person be authorized to purchase on public account all small quantities of silver and gold brought to the mint, at the best market price, to be coined for the public treasury.” Elias Boudinot, in a very able letter to the President, dated at the mint, November 29, 1796, told how impossible it was to run the mint with business-like dispatch, hampered as it was by unreasonable restrictions. He pointed out how in one case a depositor of bullion below standard got 500 pounds sterling more than he should and still was within his legal rights. In other words, it cost the mint that much to refine the bullion for which it received no compensation. He also pointed out how expensive it was to coin bullion in rotation so that each depositor got his money in turn. In this way it was just as expensive to melt and refine 20 ounces as 1,000 ounces and he recommended a fund for the mint to be used in paying off small depositors of bullion and thus be able to melt and refine in larger quantities. February 13, 1797, Mr. Havens, of the committee to examine and report on Mr. Boudinot’s letter, made his report to Congress and recommended the sum of $2,820.71 be appropriated to make good the deficiency caused by wastage in coining gold and silver since the commencement of the coinage of these metals. The report was substantially a confirmation of the statements made by Mr. Boudinot. May 19, 1798, recommendation of allowance to John Vaughan was made because silver bullion, to the extent of 230,888 ounces, deposited by him was of greater fineness than that regularly used in coinage.