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Article: Free Silver
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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FREE SILVER
FREE SILVER,
the unlimited coinage of silver by the U.S. government for anyone bringing the metal into the U.S. Mint, functioned as an important political slogan in the latter half of the nineteenth century. At that time, social unrest, political ambitions, and vested economic interests combined to cause a powerful push for legislation to increase the money supply.
From 1834 to the early 1870s silver metal had enjoyed a higher market price, in relation to gold, than the 16 to 1 ratio maintained by the U.S. Treasury, so that silver was too valuable to use as coinage. Moreover, European monetary policies varied widely. Continental conditions had long enabled France to retain ...