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U.S. Statutes at Large
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Historical SummaryThe need of a revision of the laws relating to the mints, assay offices, and coinage was suggested as early as 1866, and April 25, 1870, a report on the subject, prepared by John Jay Knox, comptroller of the currency, was submitted to Congress, together with the draft of a bill. A bill in accordance with this report was reported in the Senate December 19, 1870, by Sherman, and passed that body January 10, 1871. A substitute reported in the House February 25 was recommitted. A second bill to the same effect was introduced in the House March 3, by William D. Kelley of Pennsylvania, and referred to the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures. The bill was not reported until January 9, 1872, and the next day was recommitted. A bill with similar title was reported February 9 by Hooper of Massachusetts, and also recommitted. The latter bill was taken up April 9, and May 27 a substitute offered by Hooper was passed under suspension of the rules. The Senate referred the bill to the Committee on Finance, and the session closed without further action. December 16 the bill was reported in the Senate, further amendments being reported January 7, 1873. The bill was taken up on the 17th, and passed with amendments the same day. The final form of the bill was the work of a conference committee. The omission of the standard silver dollar of grains from the list of coins led later to the charge that the act aimed to demonetize silver, and caused the advocates of silver to refer to the act as the "crime of 1873." Only those sections of the act giving the list of coins are inserted here.REFERENCES. — Text in , XVII., 424–436, passim. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., 3d Sess., and 42d Cong., and the Cong. Record; see also the Record, 53d Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 1219–1224. Knox’s report is Senate Misc. Doc. 132, 41st Cong., 2d Sess.; the correspondence connected with it is in House Exec. Doc. 307.
No. 174.
Coinage Act
February 12, 1873
An Act revising and amending the Laws relative to the Mints, Assay-offices, and Coinage of the United States.
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SEC. 14. That the gold coins of the United States shall be a one-dollar piece, which, at the standard weight of twenty-five and eight-tenths grains, shall be the unit of value; a quarter-eagle, or two-and-a-half dollar piece; a three-dollar piece; a half-eagle, or five-dollar piece; an eagle, or ten-dollar piece; and a double eagle, or twenty-dollar piece . . . ; which coins shall be a legal tender in all payments at their nominal value when not below the standard weight and limit of tolerance provided in this act for the single piece, and, when reduced in weight, below said standard and tolerance, Shall be a legal tender at valuation in proportion to their actual weight. . . .
SEC. 17. That the silver coins of the United States shall be a trade-dollar, a half-dollar, or fifty-cent piece, a quarter-dollar, or twenty-five-cent piece, a dime, or ten-cent piece; . . . and said coins shall be a legal tender at their nominal value for any amount not exceeding five dollars in any one payment.
SEC. 16. That the minor coins of the United States shall be a five-cent piece, a three-cent piece, and a one-cent piece . . . ; which coins shall be a legal tender, at their nominal value, for any amount not exceeding twenty-five cents in any one payment.
SEC. 17. That no coins, either of gold, silver, or minor coinage, shall hereafter be issued from the mint other than those of the denominations, standards, and weights herein set forth.
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Chicago: "Coinage Act," U.S. Statutes at Large in Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913, ed. William MacDonald (1863-1938) (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916), 566. Original Sources, accessed March 27, 2023, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LKWA2I1G5CFGVEQ.
MLA: . "Coinage Act." U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. XVII, in Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913, edited by William MacDonald (1863-1938), New York, The Macmillan Company, 1916, page 566. Original Sources. 27 Mar. 2023. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LKWA2I1G5CFGVEQ.
Harvard: , 'Coinage Act' in U.S. Statutes at Large. cited in 1916, Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913, ed. , The Macmillan Company, New York, pp.566. Original Sources, retrieved 27 March 2023, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LKWA2I1G5CFGVEQ.
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