Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Decimal system.

In 1782, Gouverneur Morris, assistant fiscal agent of the Continental Congress, reported a decimal currency system, designed to harmonize the moneys of the States. He ascertained that the 1,440th part of a Spanish dollar was a common divisor for the various currencies. With this as a unit he proposed the following table of moneys: 10 units to be equal to 1 penny, 10 pence to 1 bill, 10 bills 1 dollar (about 75 cents of the present currency), 10 dollars 1 crown. In 1784, Mr. Jefferson, as chairman of a committee of Congress, proposed to strike four coins upon the basis of the Spanish dollar, as follows: A gold piece worth 10 dollars, a dollar in silver, a 10th of a dollar in silver, a 100th of a dollar in copper. Congress adopted his proposition, hence the cent, dime, dollar, and eagle of the United States currency. See metric system.