Definitions and Explanation
To understand exactly what is meant by "free coinage of silver", it is necessary to understand the way mints operated in the days of the gold standard. Essentially, a prospector or other owner of uncoined gold could bring it to one of the United States mints and trade it for its equivalent in gold coins, less a small deduction for seignorage. Free-silver advocates wanted the mints to accept silver on the same principle, so that anyone would be able to deposit silver bullion at a mint and in return receive nearly its weight in silver dollars and other currency.
Through most of the years when silver dollars and smaller denominations were minted in actual silver, the melt value of the silver was substantially less than their face value. As a result, their monetary value was based on government fiat rather than on the commodity value of their contents, and this became especially true following the huge silver strikes in the West, which further depressed the silver price. From that time until the early 1960s the silver in United States dimes, quarters, halves, and silver dollars was worth only a fraction of their face values.
Read more about this topic: Free Silver
Famous quotes containing the words definitions and/or explanation:
“Lord Byron is an exceedingly interesting person, and as such is it not to be regretted that he is a slave to the vilest and most vulgar prejudices, and as mad as the winds?
There have been many definitions of beauty in art. What is it? Beauty is what the untrained eyes consider abominable.”
—Edmond De Goncourt (1822–1896)
“What causes adolescents to rebel is not the assertion of authority but the arbitrary use of power, with little explanation of the rules and no involvement in decision-making. . . . Involving the adolescent in decisions doesn’t mean that you are giving up your authority. It means acknowledging that the teenager is growing up and has the right to participate in decisions that affect his or her life.”
—Laurence Steinberg (20th century)