An Act Amendatory of existing Laws relative to the Half Dollar, Quarter Dollar, Dime, and Half Dime
Nicknames
Mint Act of 1853
Enacted by
the 32nd United States Congress
Effective
June 2, 1853
Citations
Statutes at Large
10 Stat. 160, Chap. LXXIX
Legislative history
Passed the Senate on March 30, 1852
Passed the House on February 15, 1853
Signed into law by President Millard Fillmore on February 21, 1853
The Coinage Act of 1853, 10 Stat. 160, was a piece of legislation passed by the United States Congress which lowered the silver content of the silver half dime, dime, quarter dollar, and half dollar, and authorized a three dollar gold piece. Although intending to stabilize the country's silver shortage, it, in effect, pushed the United States closer to abandoning bimetallism entirely and adopting the gold standard.
Smaller silver denominations in the United States were disappearing as the bullion value of silver far exceeded the face value of U.S. silver coinage. In response, Congress debated a bill which would overvalue most forms of silver coinage and authorize the U.S. Mint to purchase bullion for the new coins. The legislation lowered the silver content of most silver coins by seven percent and was signed into law on February 21, 1853.
The 1853 act increased the circulation of small coinage, ending the United States' silver shortage crisis, and provided an adequate supply of silver coinage for the first time in the nation's history. However, by the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, most metallic coinage became hoarded and the country largely switched to Greenbacks. It would be in 1873 when the debate between silver and gold was finally resolved, with all pretenses of bimetallism replaced in favor of the gold standard.
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