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Coinage Act of 1873
TheCoinage Act of 1873orMint Act of 1873,17 Stat.
424, was a general revision of the laws relating to the Mint
of the United States. In abolishing the right of holders of
silver bullion to have their metal struck into fully legal ten-
der dollar coins, itended bimetallism in the United States,
placing the nation firmly on the gold standard. Because
of this, the act became contentious in later years, and was
denounced by people who wanted inflation as the "Crime
of '73".
By 1869, the Mint Act of 1837 was deemed outdated,
and Treasury Secretary George Boutwell had DeputyComptroller of the Currency John Jay Knox undertake
a draft of a revised law, which was introduced into
Congress by Ohio Senator John Sherman. Due to the
high price of silver, little of that metal was presented at
the Mint, but Knox and others foresaw that development
of theComstock Lodeand other rich silver-mining areas
would lower the price, causing large quantities of silver
dollars to be struck and the gold standard to be endan-
gered. During the almost three years the bill was pending
before Congress, it was rarely mentioned that it would end
bimetallism, though this was not concealed. Congress-
men instead debated other provisions. The legislation,in addition to ending the production of the silver dollar,
abolished three low-denomination coins. The bill became
the Act of February 12, 1873, with the signature of Pres-
identUlysses S. Grant.
When silver prices dropped in 1876, producers sought to
have their bullion struck at the Mint, only to learn that
this was no longer possible. The matter became a ma-
jor political controversy that lasted the remainder of the
century, pitting those who valued the deflationary gold
standard against those who believedfree coinage of sil-
verto be necessary for economic prosperity. Accusations
were made that the passage of the act had been securedthrough corruption, though there is little evidence of this.
The gold standard was explicitly enacted into law in 1900,
and was completely abandoned by the U.S. in 1971.
1 Background
TheMint Act of 1792established theMint of the United
States. The Mint, in its first decades, only coined gold
and silver in response to deposits of that metal by citizens,
returning the bullion to the depositor in the form of coins.
Either gold or silver could be presented for conversioninto currency, as both metals were alegal tender, a dollar
was equal to a legally defined amount of silver, or a legally
defined amount of gold. Having a currency be defined in
terms of two different metals is calledbimetallism. Such
a system may experience instability as the price of gold
and silver on the world market changes. At that time,
gold or silver U.S. coins were rarely seen in the nation, as
they were heavily exported because of such shiftsmost
pieces in circulation were foreign in origin.[1][2]
In 1834, Congress made a dollar worth slightly less, thus
lightening U.S. gold and silver coins (known collectively
as specie), making them uneconomical to export, and
they were seen more often in commerce within the U.S.[3]
With this greater circulation, Congress re-examined the
existing statutes relating to the Mint, and found many pro-
visions to be obsolete. It enacted theMint Act of 1837,
a thorough revision of the statutes relating to the Mint.
New provisions included the establishment of a bullion
fund, allowing depositors to be paid without waiting for
their metal to go through the coining process. The ratio of
value between equivalent weights of gold and silver was
adjusted slightly, allowing coins of both metals to circu-
late within the U.S.[4]
Under an 1853 act, depositors could no longer have their metal
struck into half dollars.
When silver prices rose relative to gold as a reaction to
theCalifornia Gold Rush, silver coinage was worth more
than face value, and rapidly flowed overseas for melting.
Despite vocal opposition led by Tennessee Representa-
tive (and future president)Andrew Johnson, the precious
metal content of smaller silver coins was reduced in 1853,
allowing them to circulate. Until then, depositors of silver
could choose to have their bullion struck into silver coins
of any denomination of five cents or above; the 1853 act
lightened the silver coins from the half dimeto thehalf
dollar and eliminated the right of the depositor to have
silver struck into those denominations. Depositors could
still choose to have silver struck intodollar coins, but thehigh price of silver made it more profitable to use the
bullion in other ways. So long as silver prices remained
1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seated_Liberty_dollarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_dollar_(United_States_coin)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_dollar_(United_States_coin)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_dimehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Johnsonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rushhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mint_Act_of_1837https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_moneyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimetallismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_tenderhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mint_Act_of_1792https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_silverhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_silverhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_S._Granthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comstock_Lodehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shermanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jay_Knoxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptroller_of_the_Currencyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Boutwellhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standardhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimetallismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seated_Liberty_dollarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutes_at_Largehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutes_at_Large -
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2 2 INCEPTION
high, this effectively placed the United States on thegold
standard.[2]
Although the Mint rarely received deposits of silver for
striking into coins, it purchased silver bullion using the
new lightweight silver coins at above-market prices. This
practice was illegal, as Congress had ordered that the newlightweight coins only be purchasable using gold, a pro-
vision intended to limit quantities sold to actual demand.
As the silver pieces had a legal tender limit of $5, if ex-
cessive numbers were circulated, they might choke com-
merce. This in fact occurred, and merchants and bankers
complained that the legal tender limit was causing them
to have to sell accumulations at a discount to brokers.[5]
The glut was replaced with a shortage when most federal
coins were hoarded amid the economic chaos of theCivil
War. Slowest to vanish was the base-metalcent, which
only had value because government said it did, and at that
time, confidence in the government was shaken. Even-tually, it too vanished from circulation and commanded
a premium for change[6][7] A variety of makeshifts re-
placed the vanished coins, such as fractional currency
andmerchants tokens.[8] Beginning in 1864, Congress
began to authorize base metal coins that would not be
hoarded. It reduced the weight of the cent, causing it to
be made of bronze, and also required a two-cent piece
of the same metal.[9] The following year saw the ini-
tiation of the three-cent nickel and in 1866, the five-
cent nickel (today simply known as the nickel) began
production.[10] The two-cent piece, initially popular, saw
declining mintages as the public preferred the smaller,
more convenient nickel[lower-alpha 1 ] coins.[11]
Greenbacks, which were backed by neither silver nor gold
but by the credit of the United States, and which were ne-
cessitated by vast wartime expenditures, had helped to fi-
nance the war.[12] In the late 1860s, politicians disagreed
about how quickly to have the government resume paying
out gold and silver in payment of its obligations. Treasury
SecretaryHugh McCullochfelt the best way to return to
that practice was to withdraw the greenbacks as quickly as
possible, and he did so until stopped by Congress, which
felt his contractionist stand was hurting the economy.[13]
More and more silver was being mined in the Far West.
Falls in the price of the metal made the option of deposit-ing silver at the Mint in exchange for coin more attrac-
tive, and mintages of the silver dollar rose considerably
in the late 1860s and into the 1870s. The silver dollar
was fully legal tender, and some officials worried that the
increased deposits would cause silver to drive gold from
circulation as predicted byGreshams Law, endangering
the gold standard.[14]
Since it had been two decades since much silver was reg-
ularly deposited for striking into coins, the fact that the
United States had been on a bimetallic standard since
1792 was often forgotten. The gold standard was seen
as the only possible choice, and many people assumedthat the United States was on that standard, which had
been adopted by strong nations like theUnited Kingdom
(1816) and theGerman Empire(1871).[15]
2 Inception
John Jay Knox, photographed byMathew Brady
Losses of nearly $250,000 at theSan Francisco Minthad
concerned the Treasury,[16] and, in 1866, McCullough
sent John Jay Knox, a Treasury employee, on a special
investigatory mission.[17] Knox found that informalities
in transferring bullion between various officers of that
mint had led to inconsistent sets of accounts, but due to
the lack of receipts kept, it was not possible to pinpoint
who was to blame.[16] In 1869, Knox, by then Deputy
Comptroller of the Currency, was sent by McCulloughs
successor George Boutwellto investigate other Mint fa-
cilities, discovering severe irregularities and large govern-
ment losses at the New YorkAssay Office. Knox againdiscovered a dearth of proper accounting procedures, and
that officials there had trouble finding a copy of the Mints
regulations.[16]
In 1867, aninternational monetary conferencewas held
in Paris to discuss how to have gold coins of various
countries struck to a common standard. Slight adjust-
ments to the British goldsovereignand to the five-dollar
gold piece (orhalf eagle) would make each equal to 25
francs, and it was proposed that the British and Ameri-
cans make those changes while France began striking a
25-franc piece. None of this ever came to fruition, but
in January 1868, Ohio SenatorJohn Shermanintroducedlegislation to place the United States formally on the gold
standard, to eliminate silver as a legal tender, and to im-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shermanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_eaglehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_(coin)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_monetary_conferenceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assay_office#US_assay_officeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Boutwellhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptroller_of_the_Currencyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jay_Knoxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathew_Bradyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jay_Knoxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Empirehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdomhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gresham%2527s_Lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_McCullochhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Notehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_(United_States_coin)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_(United_States_coin)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-cent_nickelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-cent_piece_(United_States_coin)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_tokenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_currencyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Head_centhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standardhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard -
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3
plement the recommendations of the conference.[18]
Knox, in his 1866 report, had recommended a thorough
revision of the laws pertaining to the Mint, and in Jan-
uary 1870, Secretary Boutwell instructed him to prepare
a draft. In this, Knox had the assistance of former Mint
Director Henry Linderman,
[19][20]
who then held a rov-ing commission for the Treasury Department; Linderman
would in 1873 become the first director of the Bureau of
the Mint.[21]
Knox completed a draft bill, intended to repeal many
antiquated legal provisions, and to rewrite others. He
proposed to eliminate the standard silver dollar (he pro-
posed a lightweight silver dollar that would have a low
legal tender limit), move the office of the Director of
the Mint from Philadelphia to Washington, eliminate the
Mints charge to strike gold bullion (then .5 percent), and
abolish the office of Treasurer at the mints and assay of-
fices, transferring its functions to the superintendent.
[22]
In drafting the bill, Knox consulted with a number of for-
mer Mint officers besides Linderman, such as former di-
rectorsJames Ross SnowdenandRobert M. Patterson, as
well as former Philadelphia Mint Chief CoinerFranklin
Peale. Mint DirectorJames Pollardsubmitted the bill to
Congress on April 25, 1870.[20]
3 Consideration and passage
SenatorJohn Shermanshepherded the bill through Congress.
Sherman introduced the bill on April 28, 1870, and it
was referred to theSenate Finance Committee, of which
he was chairman.[23] He did not seek its passage in that
session of Congress, as lawmakers were busy with other
financial legislation.[24] The bill attracted next to no news-paper attention throughout the period of almost three
years it was under consideration, though monetary ex-
perts and others watched its progress closely.[25] On Jan-
uary 9, 1871, Sherman brought the bill to the Senate floor
for debate. That it abolished the silver dollar, and thus
bimetallism, was not discussed, as senators focused on
the omission of the coinage charge (the fee for the Mints
services in converting bullion to money). This was of
importance to the Senateespecially members from theFar Westbecause it affected what mining companies
and refiners (an important economic interest) could get
for their product.[26] Sherman offered an amendment to
retain the coinage charge, but it was attacked by West-
ern senators as an unjust tax on miners and refiners of
gold, and the amendment was defeated, 2623. On Jan-
uary 10, the bill passed the Senate, 3614, with Sher-
man voting against his own bill.[27] It was then sent to the
House of Representatives and referred to the Committee
on Coinage, Weights, and Measures from which it was
briefly brought forth on February 25 by Pennsylvanias
William D. Kelley, the chairman, before being recom-mitted to committee.[28] The bill was not considered by
the House during the remainder of the 41st Congress,
which expired on March 3, 1871, and the Senate-passed
bill died with it.[29]
Kelley reintroduced the bill in the House when Congress
reconvened in December 1871.[30] Chairman Kelley was
from Philadelphia, and was influenced by industrialist
Joseph Wharton, who owned a nickel refinery in nearby
Camden, New Jersey, from which the Mint purchased,
without competitive bidding, much of the metal for the
three-cent and five-cent base metal coins. The bill at
that time proposed that the cent, then made of bronze,be made of nickel alloy as wellwhen it was debated on
January 9, 1872, Whartons interest was an immediate
target.[31] Kelley was quizzed by New York Representa-
tive Clarkson Potter, who called the bill this Pennsyl-
vania contrivance which would give a monopoly to the
gentleman in Pennsylvania [Wharton].[28] Another New
Yorker, Dwight Townsend, moved to scuttle the bill in
disgust over how long it was taking to pass; his motion
on voice vote would have succeeded, but there was no
quorum and it failed on a roll call vote.[32] On January 10,
Missouri CongressmanJames R. McCormick, who rep-
resented nickel producers in his home state, introduced an
amendment for competitive bidding for nickel purchasesby the Mint.[28] Rather than accede to McCormicks
amendment, Kelley sent the bill back to committee.[33]
When the bill was brought back to the House floor on
April 9, 1872, it was managed by Massachusetts Repre-
sentativeSamuel Hooper, chairman of theHouse Com-
mittee on Banking and Currency. He went through the
bill section by section, and stated the bill would place the
United States on the gold standard. In the ensuing de-
bate, other representatives, including Potter and Kelley,
showed their understanding of that. The bill now pro-
vided for competitive nickel bidding, but was again with-
drawn, this time by Hooper, after Kelley accused Potterof trying to benefit New York bullion merchants. This
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Financial_Serviceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Financial_Serviceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hooperhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_R._McCormickhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Townsendhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarkson_Nott_Potterhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden,_New_Jerseyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Whartonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/41st_Congresshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_D._Kelleyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senate_Finance_Committeehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shermanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Pollardhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Pealehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Pealehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Pattersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ross_Snowdenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Linderman -
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4 3 CONSIDERATION AND PASSAGE
fracas caused other New Yorkers to oppose the bill.[34]
On May 27, Hooper presented a substitute bill, which he
got passed, 11013, without it even being read. Among
the changes that the House made to Knoxs bill were a
slight increase in weight of the subsidiary[lower-alpha 2] sil-
ver coins (thedime,quarter dollar, and half dollar), mak-
ing a dollar in them weigh 25 grams (0.88 oz).[35][36]
The bill then awaited Congress reconvening in December.
Early in that month, Secretary Boutwell issued his annual
report, calling for the passage of the legislation. On the
16th, the bill was referred to Shermans committee. It
emerged without the plan to make the cent from copper-
nickel, and with the lightweight silver dollar[lower-alpha 3]
replaced with aTrade dollarintended for commerce in
the Far East, having limited legal tender status in the U.S.
The bill was reported back to the Senate on January 7,
1873.[37][38] It was debated there on the 17th.[39]
One topic of discussion was the bills requirement thatan eagle appear on larger U.S. coins. Linderman had
requested an amendment to require that gold and silver
coins bear a statement of their weight and fineness, which
would mean sacrificing the eagle. Californias Eugene
Casserlyopposed the amendment, which was sponsored
by Sherman, stating it will hardly be possible to think of
a half dollar or a quarter dollar as being such a coin with-
out the eagle upon it.[40] The eagle was saved when the
amendment failed, 24 in favor and 26 against. Casserly
was less successful with an amendment to remove en-
tirely the reduced coinage change of .2 percent, which
failed.[40] Sherman moved the bill along as quickly as he
could, and it passed without a recorded vote. The Houseinitially refused to agree to the Trade dollar; representa-
tives of both houses, led by Sherman and Potter, met in a
conference committee, and the House acceded to the Sen-
ate amendment for the Trade dollar.[39][41] Thebill passed
both houses without further debate, and was signed by
PresidentUlysses S. Granton February 12, 1873.[42] At
no point in its almost three-year journey through the leg-
islative process did the bill provide for the retention of the
standard silver dollar, into which depositors could have
their bullion coined.[43]
3.1 Intent of the bills authors
The standardsilver dollarwas abolished by the Coinage Act of
1873.
When, several years after its passage, the 1873 law be-
came a political issue, some of those involved in enacting
it, including Sherman and Linderman, stated that there
had been no intent to end bimetallism in the elimination
of the authority for private citizens to have silver bullion
coined into dollars. They argued that the 1853 legisla-
tion had ended the practice of having bullion struck intosmaller-denomination coins; the 1873 act simply rectified
an omission and eliminated a coin with a low mintage that
did not circulate.[44] They were not always consistent in
their denials: Boutwell wrote in his memoirs that in 1873
I had come to believe that it was wise for every nation to
recognize, establish, and maintain the gold standard ...
hence it was that I determined to abandon the idea of a
double [i.e., bimetallic] standard.[45]
Within a few years, the idea that the omission of the sil-
ver dollar from the Coinage Act had not been with intent
to place the United States on the gold standard became
the establishment position. Part of this was in reactionagainst the conspiracy theories that were circulating about
the Crime of '73, as advocates of bimetallism called
the act. This was accepted by many historians well into
the 20th century.[46] Neil Carothers, in his 1930 history
of small-denomination U.S. currency, wrote that many
others have demonstrated that this was not a corrupt or
surreptitious action by the enemies of silver. The elimi-
nation of the standard silver dollar was simply in the inter-
ests of clarifying the coinage law ... Not one party to the
passage of the law of 1873 recognized the significance of
the abolition of the legally existing double standard. [47]
According to historianAllen Weinstein, Silvers demon-etization, according to the traditional account, came as
an unplanned if fortunate by-product of a complex and
largely technical revision of the mint laws in the Coinage
Act of 1873.[48]
Economist Milton Friedman wrote, what is not open
to question is that the standard silver dollar was omit-
ted from the list of coins to be minted intentionally, in
full knowledge of the likely consequences, and in the be-
lief that those consequences were desirable.[49] He cited
Walter T. K. Nugents 1968 book,Money and American
Society, 18651880,
as Nugent documents in great detail, Sena-
tor John Sherman, chairman of the Senate Fi-
nance Committee, had been determined to de-
monetize silver from at least 1867 and had ar-
ranged to have a bill to that effect drafted at the
end of 1869. From then on, Sherman, Linder-
man, John Jay Knox (deputy comptroller of the
currency and then comptroller), and Secretary
of the Treasury George Boutwell cooperated to
push a coinage bill that included the demoniti-
zation of silver.[49]
Knox and Linderman were both personally familiar with
mining conditions in the Far West. They knew that the
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedmanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Weinsteinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seated_Liberty_dollarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_S._Granthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conference_committeehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Casserlyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Casserlyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_dollarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter_(United_States_coin)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dime_(United_States_coin) -
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4.2 Coins and deposit of bullion (1339) 5
amount of bullion produced was only going to increase,
and would likely drop the price of silver below the level
($1.2929 per troy ounce) at which the metal in a sil-
ver dollar was worth more as bullion than as money. In
his explanatory statement accompanying his draft bill,
Knox explained the discontinuance of the silver dollar
would mean the United States was no longer a bimetal-lic nation.[50][51] Boutwell, in his 1872 annual report,
urged Congress to end the coinage of silver from pri-
vate deposits, lest the government take a loss from pay-
ing out gold in exchange for the silver dollars, and ul-
timately having to melt them when they could not be
circulated.[52] According to Nugent, Were Knox, Lin-
derman, Boutwell, Sherman, and others aware of what
they were doing when they planned to drop the silver
dollar? It is inconceivable that they were not; Knoxs
statement was explicit. But did they urge it because they
feared a drop in silver prices? No one made an ex-
plicit statement to that effect, but it was undoubtedly thecase.[53]
4 Provisions
4.1 Bureau of the Mint; duties of officers
(112)
Text of the Coinage Act of 1873
The Director of the Mint had always been located at the
Philadelphia Mint, with the other mints and assay officesgoverned by superintendents of whom the director was in
charge.[21] The 1873 act moved the office to Washington,
where the director supervised the new Bureau of the Mint
and remained in charge of all mints and assay offices. The
Mint Director required appointment by the president and
confirmation by the Senate and served a term of five years
(unless removed by the president).[42][54] Henceforth, the
Philadelphia Mint would be under the immediate con-
trol of a superintendent, like the other mints. The actalso formally made the bureau part of the Department
of the Treasury.[55] The Mint of the United States had
originally reported directly to the president but over time
legislation had made it subject to control by the Treasury
Secretary.[56]
Little change was made to the officers of the mints, other
than adding a superintendent for Philadelphia (Pollock
would be the first incumbent), and abolishing the office
of Treasurer at each facility. In addition to the superin-
tendent, each mint had as officers the Assayer, the Melter
and Refiner, and the Coiner; each was required to post a
bond to indemnify the government against losses duringtheir tenure of office, and each was responsible for part
of the coining process. Philadelphia also had an Engraver
(sometimes Chief Engraver), responsible for preparing
coinage dies and designs, though the Director of the Mint
could, with the agreement of the Treasury Secretary, hire
outside artists to design coins.[57][58] The provision allow-
ing for the hiring of outside artists was inserted at the sug-
gestion of former director Patterson.[28] The act set the
salaries and bonding requirements for the officers, and
required them to be appointed by the president and con-
firmed by the Senate, as was the case under both the 1792
and 1837 acts. It also setforth the procedures for appoint-ment of an acting officer or Director of the Mint, in the
case of the incumbents temporary absence.[57]
4.2 Coins and deposit of bullion (1339)
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6 4 PROVISIONS
File:1873_H10C_Ultra_Cameo.jpg
The two-cent piece, three-cent silver, and half dime
were discontinued by the Coinage Act of 1873.
Sections 14 to 16 of the act set forth the coins authorized
to be struck by the Mint Bureau. This is the part of the
act that would later prove contentious, as it omitted the
standard silver dollar, since 1853 the only coin into which
depositors of silver bullion could have their metal struck.
It did allow for a Trade dollar, of higher weight than the
old coin, that depositors could have their silver made into,
but the legal tender of this and all silver coins was lim-
ited to $5[59]the old silver dollar had an unlimited legaltender.[60] All gold coins had unlimited legal tender, and
the act made provision for the redemption of gold coin
abraded below normal weight at full value, if twenty years
or more old and if still containing 99.5 percent or more
of the authorized weight. Lightweight gold coin that did
not meet these qualifications would have the loss in value
fall upon the depositor.[61]
Also eliminated by the 1873 act were the two-cent piece,
three-cent silver and half dime.[42] Although the first two
coins circulated little, the half dime was still being heavily
struck by the San Francisco Mint for use in the Far West,
where paper money was disfavored.[62] The coins autho-rized by the 1873 act were the cent, three-cent nickel,
five-cent nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, Trade dollar,
gold dollar,quarter eagle,three-dollar piece,half eagle,
eagle, anddouble eagle.[61]
The act prescribed the specifications of each coin. No
change was made to the bronze composition of the cent.
The dime, quarter, and half dollar were made slightly
heavier so that a dollar in these coins would weigh 25grams (0.88 oz), in a nod to the metric systemthe five-
cent nickel already weighed 5 grams (0.18 oz). It required
that the obverse of each American coin be emblematic of
Liberty, and that an eagle must appear on the reverse, ex-
cept for the small-diameter cent, three-cent nickel, five-
cent nickel, dime, gold dollar, and three-dollar piece, on
which an eagle could not appear. It required the use of
the countrys name on the reverse, and of E Pluribus
Unum somewhere on the coin. It allowed the motto
In God We Trust to appear on American coinage[63]
continuing permission granted in the Act of March 3,
1865, which had authorized the three-cent nickel.[64] The
1873 law allowed for the redemption of current or obso-lete base-metal coinage by the Treasury when presented
in lots of $20 or more,[65] continuing a provision enacted
in 1871.[66]
Further provisions in this part of the act allowed depos-
itors of silver bullion to receive their metal back in the
form of bars or in Trade dollars. It forbade deposit of sil-
ver for striking into other coins, but allowed the Mint, for
two years, to purchase silver bullion with silver coins at
Philadelphia and at the New York Assay Office.[67] This
practice, although illegal under the 1853 act, had long
been permitted by Mint Directors.[68]
4.3 Testing and the Assay Commission
(4050)
Medal (by Chief EngraverWilliam Barber) struck for the 1873
Assay Commission. The casket on the reverse honors Philadel-
phia Mint Assayer Jacob Eckfeldt, who had recently died.[69]
Main article:United States Assay Commission
The annualAssay Commissionmet at the Philadelphia
Mint in most years from 1797 to 1980, when it was abol-
ished. Consisting of government officials and members
of the public, it tested the gold and silver coins issued bythe Mint to ensure they met standards.[70]
The 1837 act had designated the judge of the United
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Eastern_District_of_Pennsylvaniahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assay_Commissionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Assay_Commissionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Barber_(engraver)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_eaglehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_(United_States_coin)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_eaglehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-dollar_piecehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter_eaglehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrasion_(mechanical)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1873_H10C_Ultra_Cameo.jpg -
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States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsyl-
vania, theUnited States Attorneyfor that district, and the
Collector of the Port of Philadelphia as members ex offi-
cioof the Assay Commission. The Coinage Act of 1873
kept the judge as a member, but omitted the other two,
substituting the Comptroller of the Currency and the as-
sayer of the New York Assay Office. Under the 1837act, the president was allowed to appoint members of the
public each year, and this continued under the new leg-
islation. The 1873 law also prescribed a detailed proce-
dure for taking samples from each delivery by that mints
Coiner, sealing them in envelopes and transmitting them
to Philadelphia, where the Assay Commission met each
February.[71]
This part of the Coinage Act also provided as to how the
Coiner should settle accounts, for internal testing of coins
outside the auspices of the Assay Commission, and con-
tinued the bullion fund, allowing depositors of gold or
silver to receive coins or other payment without having towait for the actual metal they had deposited to go through
the coining process. The mints were required to have a
set of weights conforming to the official weight weighing
one troy pound purchased by the U.S. minister in London
in 1827, and to have the ones at Philadelphia tested in the
presence of the Assay Commission each year.[72]
4.4 Criminal offenses and miscellaneous
provisions (5167)
Sections 51 to 53 regulated matters that had proved con-
troversial in past decades. Section 51 required all ob-
verse dies (containing the date on most denominations)
to be destroyed at the conclusion of each year.[73] Un-
der Director Snowden in the 1850s, the Mint had re-
struck rare early-dated coins to sell or exchange with
collectors.[74] Medals of a national nature could be struck
at Philadelphia under Section 52, but private medals
were forbidden.[73] Until 1854, the year in which he was
fired by PresidentFranklin Pierce, Peale had conducted
a controversial medals business on the premises of the
Philadelphia Mint.[75] Section 53 required the bureaus
profits fromseignorageto be deposited in the Treasuryand forbade the Mint from paying expenses or salaries
from that money.[73] Under Director Patterson (retired
1851), the Mint had retained such earnings, and spent
them without congressional oversight.[76]
The assay offices were regulated by sections 54 through
60, under the control of the Director of the Mint. Each
office would be governed in a manner similar to the mints,
with a superintendent in charge and two subordinate offi-
cers: an Assayer and a Melter and Refiner. Sections 61 to
64 forbade counterfeiting, intentional lightening of coins
to secure metal, and other offenses, and prescribed the
punishments for them. Section 65 is a transition provi-sion, setting an April 1, 1873 effective date, as well as
providing that the current Director of the Mint (Pollock)
would become superintendent at Philadelphia, and the oc-
cupants of the office of Treasurer at each mint (abolished
by the legislation) would become Assistant Treasurers of
the United States. Section 66 names each mint and as-
say office, and Section 67 names the legislation as the
Coinage Act of one thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.[77]
5 Aftermath
5.1 Later reaction
The abolition of the half dime, still circulating in the Far
West, led to shortages of small change there. Congress
tried to address this with the unpopular twenty-cent piece,
which was struck for circulation only in 1875 and 1876
and was rejected by the public for its similarity to thequarter dollar. The Western United States was not fully
supplied with small change until the Mint began striking
cents there in 1908 and five-cent nickels in 1912.[78] The
Trade dollar, struck principally to compete with Mexi-
can dollars in the Far East trade, failed to gain full accep-
tance in the Orient. Many were returned to (or never left)
the United States. As they could be purchased at a dis-
count, they were popular among employers, who placed
them in workers pay packets. In 1876, Congress revoked
even the limited legal tender status they enjoyed; in 1878,
the Mint stopped striking them except for collectors,
and even that limited issue ceased after 1885. In 1887,
Congress allowed a six-month window during which theycould be redeemed for other currency, provided they had
not beenchopmarkedby Oriental merchants.[79][80]
TheTrade dollar, intended for use in the Far East, became con-
troversial when circulated in the U.S.
As Friedman noted, if the price of silver had remained
high, the exclusion of the silver dollar from the 1873 act
would have been irrelevant.[81] By 1874, the effect of the
new mines in the Far West, and the sale of silver in Ger-
many following its demonetization there, combined to
force the price of silver down. Silver producers had not
been aware of the statutory change, and only learned of it
when they sought to present silver at the mints for coin-
ing. According to numismatic historianDon Taxay, anagitation followed, during which several pious Congress-
men feigned ignorance of the repeal, maintaining it had
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Taxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_dollarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_(East_Asia)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-cent_piece_(United_States_coin)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seignoragehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Piercehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assay_Officehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorneyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Eastern_District_of_Pennsylvaniahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Eastern_District_of_Pennsylvania -
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8 5 AFTERMATH
been worked into the Mint bill surreptitiously.[82] One
Delaware manufacturer wrote to his senator, Thomas F.
Bayard, in 1878, at the beginning ... I was totally ig-
norant of all that related to the silver questionso much
in fact that (I find now like almost everyone else not ex-
cluding Congressmen!) I did not know Silver had been
demonetized.[83]
A severe depression, the Panic of 1873, began in the same
year as passage of the act, and persisted for much of the
decade. Many in the United States came to believe the
gold standard too rigid to deal with economic hard times
like those, and sought to restore bimetallism.[84] The in-
flation caused by such a policy would enable debtors to
repay what they owed more easily.[85] The price of silver
continued to fallthe silver in a dollar in the new metric-
weight subsidiary silver coins was worth only $.75 by mid-
1876, though the price recovered some after that.[86]
In early 1875, Congress passed a bill for theresumptionof specie payments (that is, in gold and silver coin)
effective in 1879.[87] Friedman stated that had it not been
for the 1873 act, resumption would have been on the
effective basis of a silver standard, which he viewed as
a good thing, allowing for more economic stability and
almost surely would have avoided the downturn of the
early 1890s known as thePanic of 1893.[88]
The gold standard triumphant: a caricature fromPuck maga-
zine, 1900.
Support for bimetallism grew in the 1870s, and resulted
in the passage of theBlandAllison Actof February 28,
1878, over the veto of President Rutherford B. Hayes.
This legislation required the Treasury to purchase mil-
lions of dollars worth of silver bullion each month, and
coin it intosilver dollarsthe denomination was restored
as a legal tender, except when gold was specified bylaw or private contract.[89] Renewed support for silver
led to the passage of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act
of 1890, greatly increasing the silver purchases, and re-
quiring the Treasury to pay for them in banknotes that
could be redeemed for gold. Over the next three years,
$132,000,000 in gold was withdrawn from the Treasury,
and amid another depression PresidentGrover Cleveland
secured the repeal of the silver purchase act.[90]
The free silver movement reached its height with the 1896
campaign of former Nebraska representative William
Jennings Bryan, who won the Democratic nomination for
president after hisCross of Gold speech, which decried
the gold standard, electrified the 1896 Democratic Na-
tional Convention. Bryan was defeated inthe electionby
former Ohio governorWilliam McKinley, and in 1900,
Congress passed the Gold Standard Act, placing that stan-
dard into law.[91] The gold standard was departed from for
many purposes by PresidentFranklin Delano Roosevelt's
New Deal administration, and completely ended by Pres-
identRichard Nixonin 1971.[92]
5.2 Crime of '73
The arrowsby the date of this half dollar showthatit is one made
after the Coinage Act increased its weight to 12.5 grams.
The Atlanta Constitution on April 1, 1873, reported the
passage of the Coinage Act. It noted the abolition of the
two-cent piece and the authorization of the Trade dol-
lar, but did not mention the ending of the standard sil-
ver dollar.[93] There was no widespread objection to the
1873 act until 1876. Several factors combined to bring
forth protest then: tight moneypolicies by the Treasury
in preparation for the resumption of specie payments, a
more precipitous drop in the price of silver than had hith-erto been the case, and widespread use of Trade dollars
after their rejection in the Chinese market. At the same
time, the Comstock Lode and other Western mining areas
were producing record amounts of silver. With a depres-
sion still ongoing, silver began to be seen as a means of
inflating the currency and stimulating the economy.[94]
Beginning in March 1876, former newspaper editor
George Weston published letters asserting that bimet-
allism was mandated by the Constitution, and question-
ing how the Coinage Act had passed. Sympathetic news-
papers began to suggest that the legislation had been
enacted through corruption for the benefit of wealthycapitalists.[95] On August 5, 1876, Missouri Congress-
manRichard Bland(soon to be known as Silver Dick)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Blandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comstock_Lodehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tight_moneyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlanta_Constitutionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Delano_Roosevelthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Standard_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McKinleyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1896https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_Democratic_National_Conventionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_Democratic_National_Conventionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Gold_speechhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryan_presidential_campaign,_1896https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryan_presidential_campaign,_1896https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_silverhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Clevelandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Silver_Purchase_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_dollarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_B._Hayeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bland%E2%80%93Allison_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puck_(magazine)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puck_(magazine)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1893https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specie_Payment_Resumption_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specie_Payment_Resumption_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1873https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_F._Bayardhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_F._Bayard -
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told the House of Representatives, The act of February
12, 1873 was a fraud, because its title gave no clue to
the real intent of the act. The record shows that the act
was stealthily passed, without reconsideration and with-
out debate.[82] In 1878, Congressman Kelley, who had
introduced the bill into the House, stated, I was ignorant
of the fact it would demonetize the silver dollar.[96]
Often blamed by those who deemed the act a crime was
British financial writer Ernest Seyd, who had given ad-
vice as to the text of the bill, as attested by Congressman
Hooper on the House floor in 1872.[97] Seyd, according
to this theory, was the agent of a group of British holders
of American bonds, who had sent Seyd to America with
100,000 (then about $550,000) to bribe congressmen
into demonetizing silver. Kelley denied this had taken
place, butthe story stuck, and became a common belief in
the silver movement.[98] In 1890, Seyds corrupt involve-
ment was asserted on the floor of the House of Repre-
sentatives by ArkansassThomas C. McRae.[97] Seyd wasin fact an ardent bimetallist who strongly objected to the
American demonetization of silver.[99] He had submitted,
at Hoopers request, an analysis of the bill in the course
of which he advocated retaining the silver dollar as a legal
tender.[100]
The earliest use of the phrase Crime of 1873 in con-
gressional debate was by Colorado Senator Henry M.
Teller, who on July 10, 1890, stated, the fight for free
coinage [of silver] is on, and it will stay on, too, till the
will of the people shall be heard in the enactment of a
law that shall put silver back where it belongs and where
it would have been but for the blunder or the crime of1873.[101] The act had long been referred to as a crime
without the exact phrase being used; in one 1889 speech,
Nevada SenatorWilliam M. Stewart called it a crime
seven times. He had voted for it in 1873.[102][103]
6 See also
Coinage Act of 1834
Coinage Act of 1849
Coinage Act of 1857
Coinage Act of 1864
Coinage Act of 1965
Alexander del Mar
Political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of
Oz
7 Notes
[1] Actually, 88 percent nickel and 12 percent copper
[2] Even with the increase, a dollars worth of the smaller
coins weighed less than the to-be-abolished silver dollar,
thus they were subsidiary.
[3] Bimetallism would not have remained with the retention
of the lightweight dollar. The new coins would only have
been issued on government order: thus, depositors of bul-
lion could not have had their metal converted into the
lightweight pieces. The proposed piece was to be struck to
the standard of the subsidiary coins, thus two half dollars
would have weighed the same as one of the new dollars.
SeeTaxay, p. 257,Van Ryzin, p. 107.
8 References
[1] Lange, p. 40.
[2] Taxay, pp. 217221.
[3] Lange, pp. 4142.
[4] Lange, p. 47.
[5] Lange, pp. 9192.
[6] Carothers, pp. 186192.
[7] Van Ryzin, p. 140.
[8] Carothers, pp. 180, 193194.
[9] Taxay, pp. 241242.
[10] Taxay, pp. 243245.
[11] Carothers, p. 200.
[12] Nugent, pp. 911.
[13] Nugent, pp. 9195.
[14] Nugent, pp. 147149.
[15] Nugent, pp. 3334.
[16] Van Ryzin, p. 53.
[17] Carothers, p. 209.
[18] Nugent, pp. 67100, 105.
[19] Carothers, p. 226.
[20] Van Ryzin, p. 54.
[21] Taxay, p. 250.
[22] Taxay, p. 251.
[23] Van Ryzin, p. 59.
[24] Nugent, p. 138.
[25] Nugent, p. 140.
[26] Nugent, p. 145.
[27] Weinstein, p. 318.
[28] Taxay, p. 254.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFWeinsteinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFCarothershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFCarothershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFCarothershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFCarothershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFCarothershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFLangehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFLangehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFLangehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFLangehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_interpretations_of_The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Ozhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_interpretations_of_The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Ozhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_del_Marhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1965https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1864https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1857https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1849https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1834https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Stewarthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_M._Tellerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_M._Tellerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_C._McRaehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Seyd -
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10 8 REFERENCES
[29] Carothers, p. 231.
[30] Nugent, p. 147.
[31] Nugent, pp. 149151.
[32] Nugent, pp. 149150.
[33] Nugent, p. 152.
[34] Nugent, pp. 152, 156.
[35] Carothers, p. 232.
[36] Taxay, pp. 256257.
[37] Van Ryzin, p. 107.
[38] Taxay, pp. 257.
[39] Nugent, pp. 160161.
[40] Van Ryzin, p. 96.
[41] Van Ryzin, pp. 9697.
[42] Taxay, p. 258.
[43] Van Ryzin, p. 117.
[44] Nugent, pp. 168170.
[45] Nugent, p. 169.
[46] Nugent, p. 168.
[47] Carothers, p. 235.
[48] Weinstein, p. 310.
[49] Friedman, p. 1166.
[50] Nugent, p. 136.
[51] Friedman, p. 1172.
[52] Van Ryzin, p. 106.
[53] Nugent, pp. 136137.
[54] Bureau of the Mint, pp. 5051.
[55] Bureau of the Mint, p. 51.
[56] The Mint: Annual Report of the Director. The NewYork Times. December 9, 1873. p. 2.(subscription re-
quired)
[57] Bureau of the Mint, pp. 5153.
[58] Nugent, p. 156.
[59] Taxay, pp. 258259.
[60] Bureau of the Mint, p. 31.
[61] Bureau of the Mint, p. 54.
[62] Breen, pp. 255258.
[63] Bureau of the Mint, p. 55.
[64] Bureau of the Mint, pp. 4748.
[65] Bureau of the Mint, p. 57.
[66] Bureau of the Mint, p. 50.
[67] Bureau of the Mint, pp. 5657.
[68] Taxay, pp. 253254.
[69] Pessolano-Filos, p. 9.
[70] Coin World Almanac, pp. 163164.
[71] Bureau of the Mint, pp. 35, 5961.
[72] Bureau of the Mint, pp. 5961.
[73] Bureau of the Mint, p. 62.
[74] Taxay, p. 191.
[75] Taxay, pp. 188190.
[76] Taxay, p. 180.
[77] Bureau of the Mint, pp. 6266.
[78] Breen, pp. 295298, 334.
[79] Van Ryzin, pp. 124132.
[80] Taxay, p. 284.
[81] Friedman, p. 1168.
[82] Taxay, p. 259.
[83] Weinstein, p. 308.
[84] Nugent, p. 195.
[85] Barnett, p. 179.
[86] Carothers, p. 249.
[87] Carothers, p. 248.
[88] Friedman, pp. 11721176.
[89] Van Ryzin, pp. 143, 196198.
[90] Van Ryzin, pp. 205206.
[91] Van Ryzin, pp. 247254.
[92] FDR takes United States off gold standard. The History
Channel. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
[93] The New Coinage Act. The Atlanta Constitution. April
1, 1873. p. 1.(subscription required)
[94] Van Ryzin, pp. 179180.
[95] Van Ryzin, pp. 180181.
[96] Taxay, pp. 260261.
[97] Van Ryzin, p. 190.
[98] Nugent, p. 163.
[99] Friedman, p. 1165.
[100] Weinstein, p. 320 n.60.
[101] Barnett, p. 181.
[102] Barnett, p. 180.
[103] Van Ryzin, p. 116.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBarnetthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBarnetthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFWeinsteinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFFriedmanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlanta_Constitutionhttp://search.proquest.com/docview/494552455/fulltextPDF/F85B2E09464F4B40PQ/1?accountid=14541http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-takes-united-states-off-gold-standardhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFFriedmanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFCarothershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFCarothershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBarnetthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFWeinsteinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFFriedmanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBreenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFCoin_World_Almanachttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFPessolano-Filoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBreenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Timeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Timeshttp://search.proquest.com/docview/93278343?accountid=14541https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFBureau_of_the_Minthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFFriedmanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFFriedmanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFWeinsteinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFCarothershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFVan_Ryzinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFTaxayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFCarothershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1873#CITEREFNugenthttps://en.wikiped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11
9 Sources
Barnett, Paul (July 1964). The Crime of 1873 Re-
Examined. Agricultural History(Agricultural His-
tory Society)38(3): 178181.JSTOR 3740438.
Breen, Walter(1988). Walter Breens Complete En-cyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins. New York:
Doubleday.ISBN 978-0-385-14207-6.
Bureau of the Mint (1904). Laws of the United States
Relating to the Coinage. Washington, DC: United
States Government Printing Office.
Carothers, Neil (1930). Fractional Money: A His-
tory of Small Coins and Fractional Paper Currency
of the United States. New York: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. (reprinted 1988 by Bowers and Merena Gal-
leries, Inc., Wolfeboro, NH).ISBN 0-943161-12-6.
Coin World Almanac(8th ed.). Sidney, OH: AmosPress. 2011.ISBN 978-0-944945-60-5.
Friedman, Milton(December 1990). The Crime
of 1873. Journal of Political Economy (The Uni-
versity of Chicago Press) 98 (6): 11591194.
doi:10.1086/261730.JSTOR 2937754.
Lange, David W. (2006). History of the United
States Mint and its Coinage. Atlanta, GA: Whitman
Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7948-1972-9.
Nugent, Walter T. K. (1968). Money and American
Society, 18651880. New York: Free Press. OCLC
180948.
Pessolano-Filos, Francis (1983). Margaret M.
Walsh, ed. The Assay Medals and the Assay Com-
missions, 18411977. New York: Eros Publishing
Company. ISBN 978-0-911571-01-1.
Taxay, Don (1983). The U.S. Mint and Coinage
(reprint of 1966 ed.). New York: Sanford J. Durst
Numismatic Publications.ISBN 978-0-915262-68-
7.
Van Ryzin, Robert R. (2001). Crime of 1873: The
Comstock Connection. Iola, WI: Krause Publica-
tions. ISBN 978-0-87341-873-7.
Weinstein, Allen(September 1967). Was There a
Crime of 1873"?: The Case of the Demonetized
Dollar. The Journal of American History (Orga-
nization of American Historians) 54 (2): 307326.
JSTOR 1894808.
10 Further reading
DeCanio, Samuel (2011). Populism, Paranoia,
and the Politics of Free Silver. Studies inAmerican Political Development 25 (1): 126.
doi:10.1017/S0898588X11000010.
O'Leary, Paul M. (1960). The Scene of the Crime
of 1873 Revisited: A Note. Journal of Political
Economy 68 (4): 388392. doi:10.1086/258345.
JSTOR 1830011.
11 External links
42nd Congress
An intense summary of the issue
On The Crime of 1873, a speech by John Sherman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shermanhttp://www.bartleby.com/268/10/23.htmlhttp://www.micheloud.com/FXM/MH/Crime/http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/hlawquery.htmlhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/1830011https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSTORhttps://dx.doi.org/10.1086%252F258345https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_object_identifierhttps://dx.doi.org/10.1017%252FS0898588X11000010https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_object_identifierhttp://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8255527http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8255527https://www.jstor.org/stable/1894808https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSTORhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Weinsteinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-87341-873-7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-915262-68-7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-915262-68-7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-911571-01-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://www.worldcat.org/oclc/180948https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCLChttps://books.google.com/books/about/Money_and_American_Society_1865_1880.html?id=6TmaAAAAIAAJhttps://books.google.com/books/about/Money_and_American_Society_1865_1880.html?id=6TmaAAAAIAAJhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7948-1972-9https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/2937754https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSTORhttps://dx.doi.org/10.1086%252F261730https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_object_identifierhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedmanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-944945-60-5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-943161-12-6https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://books.google.com/books?id=rmtAAAAAYAAJhttps://books.google.com/books?id=rmtAAAAAYAAJhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-385-14207-6https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Breenhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/3740438https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSTOR -
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