All the mines in the Spanish possessions consumed annually 30,000 quintals of quicksilver, which, at the rate of $50, (at which they might be calculated, on an average of years,) amounts to a million and a half.
When fifteen millions were annually coined the king received 6 per ct. upon that sum; and when the amount exceeded 18 millions, scarcely 7. This difference was owing to the rules and system of the mint, in which there were the same expenses in coining from twenty to twenty-four millions that were incurred in coining fifteen millions. In 1809 $26,172,982 were issued, in gold and silver, from the Mexican mint, and this, with the exception of 1804 and 1805, is the largest amount of coinage either under the Viceroyal or Republican government.
4th. Military Force before the Revolution.
| Veteran troops, | 7,083 | |
|---|---|---|
| Garrison troops and viceroyal guards, | 595 | |
| Garrison troops and guards. Internal provinces, | 3,099 | |
| Provincial militia, | 18,884 | |
| 29,661 | ||
| The maintenance of these cost annually, | $1,800,000 | |
| The fort of St. Carlos at Peroté absorbed, | 200,000 | |
| Costs of fortifications and casual expenses, | 2,000,000 | |
| $4,000,000 |