question about weight discrepancy
ve3rules
Posts: 60 ✭✭
why does a pre-64 quarter weigh 6.25 grams and a half dollar weighs 12.5 grams but a dollar weighs 26.73 grams. Why does the dollar coin get a 1.73 gram bonus?
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Silver coins less than one dollar were called “subsidized coinage”
And did not contain their face value of silver.
See the Subsidiary Coin Act of 1853.
This was done to prevent melting.
Or was it a rip-off by the US Government ?
Or in other words to create a medium of exchange that would actually circulate.
France made a very similiar per centage reduction of silver in their smaller silver
coins. Only they did it by reducing the fineness to .835 while maintaining the 5 Franc coin at .900 fine.
The problem was that the dollar and other coins had more than a dollar's worth of silver when compared to gold.
After 1853 the lower denominations were worth slightly less than face in gold.
<< <i>why does a pre-64 quarter weigh 6.25 grams and a half dollar weighs 12.5 grams but a dollar weighs 26.73 grams. Why does the dollar coin get a 1.73 gram bonus? >>
Coal Porter had it right, it was done so the smaller coins would circulate instead of being melted.
http://www.coinsite.com/content/articles/arrwcoin.asp
1853 Mint Act
More history at:
http://www.coinresource.com/guide/photograde/pg_10cSeatedLibertyArrowsDime.htm
more
1853 Mint Act
More history at:
http://www.coinresource.com/guide/photograde/pg_10cSeatedLibertyArrowsDime.htm
more>>
Very interesting comprehensive articles but they give too short shift to the silver 3 cent piece IMHO.
This was the nation's first subsdiary coin in 1851 and is step number one in the subsidiary coin story.
The trime was very sucessful for the first 3 years, since it circulated along with the rather recently (1849) invented gold dollar. These are rather small coins, but the only USA ones to circulate between 1 cent and 2 1/2 dollars.
This sucess might have had something to do with the sucessful passage of the Act of 1853.
Incidently by this act, the silver content of the three cent piece was raised slightly and it got its own set of arrows which it kept until the end of the series in 1873.
But now having circulating half dimes, the popularity of the three cent piece was gone. According to the Red Book the entire last 10 years of circulation strikes were all melted in 1873.
Likewise in the next coin shortage of the Civil War era, the 1864 two cent was very popular until they had the 1865 three cent nickel.
The three cent nickel was very popular until they had the 1866 five cent piece which has retained its popularity until this very day.
Fractional coins were reduced so that they would not be melted for their silver value. Why wouldn't people do the same with dollar coins?
<< <i>Thank you all for your responses but the question remains: why reduce the weight of fractional coins but not the dollar?
Fractional coins were reduced so that they would not be melted for their silver value. Why wouldn't people do the same with dollar coins? >>
They would have, if the dollar had circulated. However, until silver started going down after the Comstock Lode, they were often traded in bulk as bullion. Thus, for a $1000 face bag you might get $1040 or so credit.
The government kept the standard dollar at the full official weight standard because it wanted to pretend that we were on a bimetallic monetary standard. In 1873 it gave up this fiction, and discontinued the standard dollar.