Silver and U.S. Coinage
BEGINNING IN the latter part of 2018, the value of silver and gold started to climb. Silver was often at or above the $17 per ounce mark while gold passed $1500, sometimes very strongly. These recent fluctuations mask the fact that, for decades, the value of silver greatly influenced American coinage.
Although regular silver coinage began at the Philadelphia Mint in October 1794, this metal had long played a key role in the American marketplace. As early as 1652, Massachusetts had produced silver coins from its mint in Boston but in the early 1680s, British authorities pressured them to close down this important source for coinage.
After the demise of the Massachusetts mint, colonists had to make do with a variety of foreign coins, primarily small Spanish silver struck at Mexico City, Lima, and Potosí. Some gold was used by large merchants but the average person made do with Spanish silver, primarily the one-half, one, and two reales pieces.
In 1775, the Revolutionary War began with the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord and within a short time the newly-formed Continental Congress had voted to issue paper currency to pay for the necessary troops and materiels. A note for $1, for example, was said to be worth a Spanish milled dollar (8 reales) but it was a rare citizen indeed in those days who got silver coins from the government
