Citizens of the U.S. exchanged goods and services through the barter system before the first coinage act in the United States. No coins were available at this time except for various foreign coins such as the widely traded and trusted Spanish real dollars. The first coinag🦂e act was proposed and it passed Congress under the Presidency of George Washingto♑n with the signage of the Constitution and a newly formed nation that allowed Congress to coin money.

The Beginning of U.S. Coinage

The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:first coinage act was passed on April 2, 1792 and it established the United States Mint to oversee all mint operations and manage the mint's first employees. They included an engraver, an assayer, and a chief coiner. All employees had to post a $10,000 bond to be considered for these positions by law. The first coins in the United States were minted using either gold, silver, or copper with engravings of words and inscriptions of liberty.

The first coins minted were the:

• $10 gold eagle with 270 grains (17.5g) of pure gold
• $5 gold half eagle with 135 grains (8.75g) of pure gold
• $2.50 quarter eagle with 67 and 4/8 grains (4.37g) of standard gold
• $1 with 416 grains (27g) of standard silver
• Half dollar with 208 grains (13.5g) of standard silver
• Quarter dollar with 104 grains (6.74g) of standard silver
• Dimes, spelled "dismes" until the 1800s, had 41 and 3/5 grains (2.7g) of silver
• Half dimes with 20 and 4/5 grains (1.35g) of standard silver
• One cent with 11 pennyweights (17.1g) of copper
• Half cent with 5 and 1/2 pennyweights (8.55g) of copper

The silver-to-gold ratio was 15:1 so one troy ounce of gold would buy 15 ounces of silver.

The 19th Century

Dollars were minted in the tradition of the Spanish 8 reales. English speakers referred to these Spanish 8 reales as the Spanish milled dollar. The word "milled" referred to the fact that coin blanks called planchets were "milled" on a milling machine to stay consistent with weights and sizes and prevent counterfeiting. The advanced milling process allowed these Spanish coins to be used in manﷺy cou♊ntries worldwide.

The Coinage Act of 1834

The official U.S. government price of gold remained consistent at $19.75 per troy ounce from 1792 until it was raised to $20.67 in 1834. The price was raised to $35 in 1934. The price was increased to $38 in 1972 and it went up to $42.22 in 1973.

Congress reconciled the new value of gold with the passage of the Coinage Act of 1834 under the presidency of Andrew Jackson. A new regulation of the weight and value of gold was adopted to bring the value of gold in sync with the marketplace and its relative value to silver.

The act revised the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:ratio of gold to the dollar to the equivalent of $20.67 per ounce of gold, increasing the value of gold and increasing the ratio of silver to gold to about 16:1.

The Coinage Act of 1873

The Coinage Act of 1873 was also called the "Crime of 1873" by Western silver miners. The act 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:demonetized silver and effectively ended a silver boom that had enriched Western states' economies. Silver was dropped for the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:gold standard that would later be adopted by governments around the world.

A powerful force known as the Free Silver Movement was established and it would be instrumental in the passage of the 1878 Bland Allison Act. This act allowed the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Treasury Department to purchase $2 to $4 million a month of domestic silver to be coined into silver dollars for circulation. This act passed Congress after overriding the veto of President Rutherford B. Hayes.

The Sherman Silver Purchase Act was passed in 1890 and replaced the previous law. It saw an increased purchase of 4.5 million ounces of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:silver bullion a month. President Cleve𒐪land later repealed this act in 1893 because the U.S. Treasury's gold reserves were being depleted by investors who were selling silver in exchange for gold.

Southern ministers encouraged Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase to inscribe "In God We Trust" on coins in 1861. Congress approved and first used the phrase on the two-cent coin in 1864. The inscription was expanded to gold and silver coins with the passage of the 1865 Act. All coins were approved with "In God We Trust" without further congressional approval in 1873.

The 20th Century and Beyond

The 1965 Coinage Act that was passed under President Johnson eliminated silver from certain coins due to a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:silver and coin shortage.

🎶 Silver quarters and dimes saw complete elimination of silver content and the silver content of half dollars was reduced to 40% from 90%. Silver was replaced with alloys of copper, zinc, manganese, and nickel. A freeze date was also passed to prevent hoarding. All newly minted coins had a 1964 date for some time.

Mint marks were also eliminated for five years. Mint marks are the letters on the coin that indicate which mint produced the coin. This served to remove any features that helped identify the newer coins and to prevent their removal from circulation.

The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to design and issue $1 commemorative coins for each of the past U.S. Presidents and their spouses. Prior commemorative $1 coins such as the Sacag💝awea $1 would continue but they would consist of no less than 1/3 the🌟 total of all $1 coins.

The Bottom Line

American coinage has come a long way since the barter system. It seems like it's been figured out but there will doubtlessly be more change to come. An interest in coinage leads to an interest in currencies and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:currency trading for many investors. The marketplace for trading currencies, known as the foreign exchange or 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:forex market, is one of the largest, most liquid markets in the world with trillions of dollars changing hands each day.