Gold dollar - Not originally intended as coins 0

[RWB]

members' thoughts on the following would be of interest.

"The silver dollar was already an authorized United States coin, so it required only administrative approval for redesign and adoption. Naturally, concurrence was sought from the Secretary of the Treasury and President, but Congress had nothing to say about its issuance. However, a gold dollar was a new denomination.

"In American law, a dollar was defined as a specific weight of fine (pure) gold but Alexander Hamilton and Congress did not consider it a circulating coin. The “gold dollar” was really money of account – a bookkeeping and contract approach then common in European finance.[1] It was not thought of as a real piece of coined money – that was the utilitarian role of a silver dollar. The country had prospered without a gold one-dollar coin, and when proposed in the 1834 and 1836 it was only for the purpose of forcing dollar paper currency from circulation."

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[1] “Money of account” is a denomination or unit of value for which there may, or may not, be an equivalent coin or legal tender note.

Edited May 17, 2021 by RWB

[DWLange]

The success (regionally, at least) of Bechtler's gold dollars in the 1830s must have made some impression on Congress and the Treasury Department, too.

Roger's dates reference the time period when the Bank of the United States, which had served as the federal government's depository for decades, was eliminated by President Jackson's veto of its charter renewal. The banking system was suddenly without any regulation, each state being responsible for approving charters. In the heady atmosphere of speculation in western land, huge amounts of one dollar and other low value bank notes were issued with little to back them. Of course, this all came crashing down around 1837 when the fever broke and specie (gold and silver coin) payments were suspended, bringing on the "Hard Times" of the Van Buren presidency.

[RWB]

Thanks for your insights!

[GoldFinger1969]

To me, this means simply that aside from the South (cotton, agriculture) there wasn't that much international trade up to about 1870.  So the need for gold coins wasn't as high as lower-valued silver coins.  You don't read too much  about Liberty Double Eagles being bagged and shipped overseas as you did with Saints decades later.

Domestically, I guess $1 silver coins met most people's needs, as you pointed out, few people needed a $20 or even $10 gold (or silver, if you could hold it) coin. 

[RWB]

From 1850 onward, most of the DE were exported - the same as SG DE.

Until the NC and GA gold was redirected through the two little mints and Philadelphia, most went to London. The US received limited amounts of gold coin in trade and in 1835 only about $500,000 in gold was deposited at the Philadelphia Mint.

Southern states had very small cash economies localized near cities and towns. Plantations and slave economies were highly restrictive, and generated little need for cash except for the owners.

Edited May 20, 2021 by RWB