
The ratio of value between equivalent weights of gold and silver was adjusted slightly, allowing coins of both metals to circulate within the U.S. 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. It enacted the Mint Act of 1837, a thorough revision of the statutes relating to the Mint. With this greater circulation, Congress re-examined the existing statutes relating to the Mint, and found many provisions to be obsolete. 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. In 1834, Congress made a dollar worth slightly less, thus lightening U.S. coins were rarely seen in the nation, as they were heavily exported because of such shifts-most pieces in circulation were foreign in origin. Such a system may experience instability as the price of gold and silver on the world market changes, and this took place in the first decades after 1792, as the relative values of gold and silver in Europe changed. Having a currency defined in terms of two different metals is called bimetallism. Either gold or silver could be presented for conversion into currency, as both metals were a legal tender, a dollar was equal to both a legally defined weight of silver, and another legally defined quantity of gold.

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. The Mint Act of 1792 established the Mint of the United States.

4.2 Coins and deposit of bullion (§§13–39).4.1 Bureau of the Mint duties of officers (§§1–12).The gold standard was explicitly enacted into law in 1900, and was completely abandoned by the U.S. Accusations were made that the passage of the act had been secured through corruption, though there is little evidence of this.
COINAGE ACT OF 1873 FREE
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 to be necessary for economic prosperity. 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 bill became the Act of February 12, 1873, with the signature of President Ulysses S. The legislation, in addition to ending the production of the silver dollar, abolished three low-denomination coins. Congressmen instead debated other provisions. 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. Due to the high price of silver, little of that metal was presented at the Mint, but Knox and others foresaw that development of the Comstock Lode and other rich silver-mining areas would lower the price, causing large quantities of silver dollars to be struck and the gold standard to be endangered. Because of this, the act became contentious in later years, and was denounced by some as the " Crime of '73".īy 1869, the Mint Act of 1837 was deemed outdated, and Treasury Secretary George Boutwell had Deputy Comptroller of the Currency John Jay Knox undertake a draft of a revised law, which was introduced into Congress by Ohio Senator John Sherman. In abolishing the right of holders of silver bullion to have their metal struck into fully legal tender dollar coins, it ended bimetallism in the United States, placing the nation firmly on the gold standard. 424, was a general revision of the laws relating to the Mint of the United States. The Coinage Act of 1873 or Mint Act of 1873, 17 Stat. 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).
