Silver Begins Its Fall

Abstract

This chapter determines whether the Coinage Act of 1873 was a political or economic crime. It uses the creation and circulation of trade dollars to introduce the first important thread about why and how the silver era in world history came to an end from the 1870s to the 1930s. It also discusses the international competition for influence over the Chinese monetary system in the context of declining silver prices. The chapter recounts the mines of the Comstock Lode, monetary debates in the United States after the Civil War, and fallout from the Franco-Prussian War that undermined the system of worldwide bimetallism for much of the nineteenth century. It highlights the proponents of the trade dollar that lessened England's financial role in the China trade and established a broader U.S. financial architecture in Asia.