Silver Dollars

Passage of a law in 1873, made gold the only recognized legal currency. The aftermath would be economic stagnation. It affected large portions of the nation. As money, silver was no longer in demand. Two members of Congress took matters in hand. One was Missouri Senator Richard P. Bland. The other was Iowa Representative William Allison. Their bill called for silver’s re-recognition. This was a very controversial proposition. Although President Hayes vetoed the bill, there was a two-thirds override on Capitol Hill. Therefore, silver was once again a standard of money. It shared a place with gold as bi-metallic currency. Because of silver’s re-establishment, silver dollars were struck again by the U. S. Mint. These large silver coins would make their scenes at mints in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Mintage of these silver “cartwheels” would thrive, right up until the year of 1935. The rarest dates anyone would see, came from Nevada in Carson City. The coins bore the mintmark “CC”. Under the eagle’s tail feathers it would be. The last year for these dollars was 1893. The silver dollar was the largest coin of its day. They are prized by many coin collectors today.