The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 7, February 18, 2007, Article 19

FEATURED WEB SITE: THE CRIME OF 1873

This week's featured web site is François Micheloud's web site on
The Crime of 1873.

"What is known in Populist rhetoric of the late XIX century as The
Crime of 1873 was the demonetization of silver enacted by the Coinage
Act of 1873. Alexander Hamilton had set the United States on a bimetallic
standard in 1792 and, with the notable exception of the Civil War, the 
country had not moved from this system. In practice this was a continuous
switching from a gold standard to a silver standard. When the legal price
of gold in term of silver, that is, how many pounds of silver you get for
one pound of gold, which was set by the Coinage Act at 15 for 1, was
greater than the market price, then nobody would bring gold to the mint
and the country would be on a de facto monometallic silver standard.

"The consequences of this technical decision were enormous..."

Featured Web Site

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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