1873: The Great Turning Point for U.S. Coinage
Editor’s Note: For nearly 70 years, the feature-rich pages of Coins magazine, Numismatic News’ venerable sister publication, have tracked the history, fun and the growth of this great hobby, while also attracting new collectors to pursue what was once deemed the “hobby of kings.” Dusting off these time-aged issues, from the early 1960s and beyond, each installment of “Past Times with Coins,” written by its former longtime editor, explores what nuggets of interest they contain.
The year 1873 was a pivotal one for U.S. coinage and the nation’s history. It’s also one of my favorite years – so much so that I devoted an entire book to what really led to the elimination of the standard silver dollar from the rolls of the Coinage Act of
