IN THE LATE 1850s, when coin collecting first became a national hobby, one of the more popular issues to collect was the early silver dollars, dating from 1794 through 1803. This interest has not flagged since that time and today the serious collector even has several specialized books to help understand the series. It all began more than 200 years ago.
After 1783, when the United States achieved its formal independence from Great Britain, there was agitation to create a national coinage but the weak Confederation government was unable to do so because it had no money. It was not until after the Constitution of 1787, and the creation of the Federal government, that events slowly moved in this direction. In March 1790 Congress asked Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to prepare a detailed report for a system of money as well as a mint.
Hamilton’s concise report was presented to the national legislature in late January 1791. He suggested that the basis for our monetary system be the Spanish silver dollar (eight reales) coin, then in widespread use throughout the world. It was a recognized standard of value accepted by most peoples.
Congress took its time about creating a monetary framework and it was not until the winter of 1791–1792 that the debate began in earnest. The lawmakers generally accepted that the Spanish dollar should be used as the basis for our system but had trouble agreeing as to exactly how this
