Beginning in March 1933, the United States rapidly abandoned the gold standard in favor of fiat currency for almost all purposes. The political dispute was settled when the gold standard was explicitly enacted into law in 1900. Despite contemporary accusations, scant evidence exists that the 1873 act had a corrupt motivation. The matter became a major political controversy that lasted the remainder of the century, pitting those who valued the deflationary gold standard against those who believed free coinage of silver, an inflationary policy, to be necessary for economic prosperity. In 1876, when silver's market price indeed dropped as forecast, producers brought silver bullion to the Mint only to learn that the Mint no longer was authorized to coin it. Grant, and became effective on April 1 of that year. The bill became the Act of February 12, 1873, with the signature of President Ulysses S. During its consideration, it was rarely publicly mentioned, but also was not concealed, that the bill would establish a gold standard by ending bimetallism. Congress considered the bill for almost three years before passage. However, Knox and others correctly forecast that development of the Comstock Lode and other rich silver mines would lower silver's market price, making the option of having bullion struck into legal-tender coins attractive. Silver's market price then exceeded the value at which the Mint would purchase the metal, suppressing the demand for bullion to be struck into silver dollars. Treasury Secretary George Boutwell had Deputy Comptroller of the Currency John Jay Knox draft a revised law, introduced into Congress by Ohio Senator John Sherman. The act led to controversial results and was denounced by critics as the " Crime of '73".īy 1869, the Mint Act of 1837, enacted before the California gold rush or the American Civil War affected the monetary system of the United States, was deemed outdated. It also authorized a Trade dollar, with limited legal tender, intended for export, mainly to Asia, and abolished three small-denomination coins. By ending the right of holders of silver bullion to have it coined into standard silver dollars, while allowing holders of gold to continue to have their bullion made into money, the act created a gold standard by default. The Coinage Act of 1873 or Mint Act of 1873, was a general revision of laws relating to the Mint of the United States. Signed into law by President Ulysses S.Reported by the joint conference committee on or before Februagreed to by the Senate on February 6, 1873 (passed) and by the House on February 7, 1873 (passed).Passed the Senate on January 17, 1873 (passed). ![]() There were also misgivings in Congress, as many legislators worried about a complete collapse of the nation’s financial infrastructure. Many bankers and financial experts predicted doom for the economy, as they believed there would be little confidence in the scheme. The Legal Tender Act allowed the government to print $150 million in paper money that was not backed by a similar amount of gold and silver. Finally, Congress began printing money, which the Confederate government had been doing since the beginning of the war. Several proposals involving the use of bonds were suggested. Soon after the war began, the federal government began to run low on specie. This ended the long-standing policy of using only gold or silver in transactions, and it allowed the government to finance the enormously costly Civil War long after its gold and silver reserves were depleted. ![]() Congress passes the Legal Tender Act, authorizing the use of paper notes to pay the government’s bills.
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