need help-- 1857 legal tender law

coachleonard

As a lot of you know, Spanish silver coins were legal tender in the United States until 1857. But after 1857, what happened if someone came in with a bag full of Spanish pesos? Were they rejected outright--- did some kind of conversion have to take place?

shirohniichan

If the seller was willing to take them, he could accept as payment. Otherwise, they would have had to have been exchanged for US money or taken at bullion value.

From what I've read, Spanish colonial silver continued to circulate in the west after its legal tender status was revoked.

basestealer

That depends on where they tried to cash them in. If at a store--businesses have always enjoyed the right to decide what forms of tender they will honor. No law says you have to accept US money, or that you can't accept another form.

flaminio

If you had a big sack of Spanish silver, could you take it to a Mint and have it recoined as US money?

DickyBetz

<< <i>If you had a big sack of Spanish silver, could you take it to a Mint and have it recoined as US money? >>




They had a timeframe after the law was signed for that to happen and after that you couldnt.

Dennis88

The banks would take the silver coins at melt value and melt them to make new coins from them for the depositors. Same as someone brought in newly dug silver.

Dennis

shirohniichan

<< <i>If you had a big sack of Spanish silver, could you take it to a Mint and have it recoined as US money? >>



What's funny is that the Mint paid depositors of foreign silver in Flying Eagle Cents when the law went into effect. The Mint got precious metal coins and only had to pay out in "nickels."

Cladiator

Here is what passed for a rough equivelant to the half dime in America before we had US half dimes.

Graphix

Found this....

CHP LVL. - An act relating to Foreign Coins and the Coinage of Cents at the Mint of the United States. (Feb 21,1857)

coachleonard

Thanks for your answers everybody!

shirohniichan

If you notice in section 6 of chapter 56:

"And it shall be lawful for the space of two years from the passage of this act and no longer to pay out at the mint the cents aforesaid for the fractional parts of the dollar herinbefore named, at their nominal value of twenty-five, twelve-and-a-half, and six-and-a-quarter cents, respectively."

So you could get FE cents in exchange for your Spanish and Spanish colonial silver coins (and for US gold and silver coins), but the FE cents were not unlimited legal tender. It was a one-way street in this respect: you could get cents for silver and gold (which were unlimited legal tender), but not silver or gold for cents.

Writersblock

Not only were the FE cents not unlimited legal tender, they were not legal tender at all. The one cent piece did not have any legal tender status until 1864.

You will also note that chapter 6 specified a two year window inwhich you could exchange the spanish silver for cents. The exchange was so successful that the window was closed before the two year term expired.

You could still take silver coin to the mint for recoinage, the free coinage of silver at the mint didn't end until 1873.

Also contrary to popular belief, Spanish silver was no always legal tender between the establishment of the mint and 1857. The legislation giving it legal tender status was alway passed making it legal tender from the passage of the act to a specific date. Often these acts would expire and new legislation not passed for some time. Somtimes years passed during which they were not legal tender.

ricko

Very interesting historical information... thanks, Cheers, RickO