Coinage Act of 1834

The Coinage Act of 1834 was passed by the United States Congress on June 28, 1834. It raised the silver-to-gold weight ratio from its 1792 level of 15:1 (established by the Coinage Act of 1792) to 16:1 thus setting the mint price for silver at a level below its international market price.[1][2]

The Act redefined the U.S. Eagle coin (ten U.S. Dollars) as containing 232 grains of fine gold, compared to 247.5 grains in the prior Act. This fixed the official basis of the dollar as $20.69 per troy ounce.[3] This standard prevailed until 1933, when the official price rose to $35 as a consequence of the Great Depression.[4]

The pure silver content of the silver dollar was left unchanged at 371.25 grains.[5]

  1. ^ Stevens, Edward (1971). "Composition of the Money Stock Prior to the Civil War". Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking. 1. 3 (1): 84–101. doi:10.2307/1991437. JSTOR 1991437.
  2. ^ Leech, Edward (1895). The North American Review. 464. 161: 34–42. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ 480 grains per troy ounce; $10 * (480 grains/troy oz) / 232 grains = $20.69/troy oz
  4. ^ "Roosevelt's Gold Program". Federal Reserve History. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  5. ^ Leavens, Dickson. "3". Silver Money. pp. 20–21.http://cowles.econ.yale.edu/P/cm/m04/