So-Called Dollar Discussions
The Crime of 1873...
Quote from Pioneer on February 27, 2013, 7:54 pmFor further information about the Gold/silver standard issue, read the book "The Crime of 1873". It covers the time period starting with the Comstock lode find and goes through the period of the trade dollars and the Morgan Dollars. It is an extensive read as it goes into great detail about the congressional debate over the coinage act of 1873 and then the panics (recessions) that followed. The gold standard/silver standard was the number one topic of contention for the election of 1896.
For further information about the Gold/silver standard issue, read the book "The Crime of 1873". It covers the time period starting with the Comstock lode find and goes through the period of the trade dollars and the Morgan Dollars. It is an extensive read as it goes into great detail about the congressional debate over the coinage act of 1873 and then the panics (recessions) that followed. The gold standard/silver standard was the number one topic of contention for the election of 1896.
Quote from Pioneer on March 20, 2025, 10:15 pmTo expand on this.... before 1873, American money value was backed by both gold and silver, with the US Constitution naming both silver and gold together as the money metals of the United States. The “crime of 1873” coinage act effectively put the U.S. on a de facto gold standard by demonetizing silver (government was not required to buy silver for coins), thus favoring the interests of wealthy Eastern bankers who held large amounts of gold over the interests of miners and farmers in the West who often preferred silver. While gold-backed currency would be more stable internationally, the decision to move away from silver-backed currency led to a five-year long depression, until the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 called for the expansion of silver coinage, requiring the government to buy 2-4 million dollars of silver in order to increase the money supply and stimulate the economy.
During the 1880s, co-metallic coin specimens (like the Eutopia Dollar) were created during the national debate over the relative values of gold and silver in the U.S. monetary system. Internationally, many countries were in a similar debate but were moving toward the gold standard. Cities in the Northeast had a strong interest in shaping monetary policy given their interests in international trade in the steel, mining, and agriculture industries.
Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, Democrat from Nebraska, chose to support the bimetallic money standard (gold and silver backed currency) for his campaign in 1896, primarily to increase economic prosperity and oppose "unamerican" international gold interests (ie. the British). Bryan backed a 16 oz. of silver = 1 oz. of gold ratio. Since about 53 cents of silver were used in a Morgan Dollar (backed by government gold), his opponents quickly exaggerated the size of future silver coins made based on $1 of silver (often about double the volume of silver in the Morgan Dollar). Affluent jewelers in the East made several different silver comparison “dollars,” but hundreds of Byran money creations were made, often made out of scrap metal -- see the 2001 Fred Schornstein published by TAMS for photos of a great many of these.
To expand on this.... before 1873, American money value was backed by both gold and silver, with the US Constitution naming both silver and gold together as the money metals of the United States. The “crime of 1873” coinage act effectively put the U.S. on a de facto gold standard by demonetizing silver (government was not required to buy silver for coins), thus favoring the interests of wealthy Eastern bankers who held large amounts of gold over the interests of miners and farmers in the West who often preferred silver. While gold-backed currency would be more stable internationally, the decision to move away from silver-backed currency led to a five-year long depression, until the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 called for the expansion of silver coinage, requiring the government to buy 2-4 million dollars of silver in order to increase the money supply and stimulate the economy.
During the 1880s, co-metallic coin specimens (like the Eutopia Dollar) were created during the national debate over the relative values of gold and silver in the U.S. monetary system. Internationally, many countries were in a similar debate but were moving toward the gold standard. Cities in the Northeast had a strong interest in shaping monetary policy given their interests in international trade in the steel, mining, and agriculture industries.
Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, Democrat from Nebraska, chose to support the bimetallic money standard (gold and silver backed currency) for his campaign in 1896, primarily to increase economic prosperity and oppose "unamerican" international gold interests (ie. the British). Bryan backed a 16 oz. of silver = 1 oz. of gold ratio. Since about 53 cents of silver were used in a Morgan Dollar (backed by government gold), his opponents quickly exaggerated the size of future silver coins made based on $1 of silver (often about double the volume of silver in the Morgan Dollar). Affluent jewelers in the East made several different silver comparison “dollars,” but hundreds of Byran money creations were made, often made out of scrap metal -- see the 2001 Fred Schornstein published by TAMS for photos of a great many of these.