Up until 1857, the Spanish Real was the silver coin officially sanctioned by the US government for trade. But, the US government actually began minting offical US gold and silver coingage in 1792. Immediately, speculators began swapping US silver dollars for worn, reduced-weight Pieces of Eight which meant the immediate export of most of the new dollars as soon as they were minted and a complete loss to American trade channels. At that time, merchants had to rely on silver half dollars so that the majority of these coins were transferred between banks and not circulated. Due to this, there is a large supply of exceptional grade half dollars from this period still available. Other denominations of coins were minted in such small quantities that it is estimated that there was less than one piece for each person in the country in 1830. When the law of 1837 was passed, the mint and coinage laws were completely standardized. From then on, all coins issued by the US goverment were according to standard weight and specifications and all other tokens, bank coins and other non-sanctioned coinage became obsolete. The Mint began produing coins using the proof method and most coins minted thereafter were struck in proofs. The earliest proofs command premium prices and to this day, proof issues are always more valuable than other strikes. |
