An Overview of Silver Dollars
Origin of the Silver Dollar
The dollar - the basic unit from which other U.S. denominations have been derived -has always been used in comparison to foreign units, and therefore is referred to as the monetary standard.
In 1791, Hamilton advised Congress that the Spanish government was producing its silver dollar with successively declining weight and fineness. He pointed out that dependence on foreign currency allowed the value of American property to fluctuate with changes abroad, and he proposed that the United States develop its own monetary system.
The silver dollar was conceived by both Alexander Hamilton, whose ideas on coinage were adopted by Congress, the Mint Act of April 2, 1792, as our first federal coinage system, and by Thomas Jefferson who based its necessity on the popularity of the Spanish silver dollar (eight reales) already circulating widely in the United States.
An Overview
Although the term silver dollar has traditionally been used to describe this large denomination, the use of silver metal was discontinued (except for special pieces made for collectors) in 1971. Since that time "silver dollars" have been made of other alloys, although some silver-content pieces have been struck for collectors.
The first United States silver dollar made its appearance in 1794. Close to one and one-half million silver dollars were produced during the 1794-1803 years.
