The History of Silver Dollar Values

Silver dollars, which are the first dollar coin issue,exist only in coin. For example, there are the
were minted since 1794. The United States ofBritish 50 pence coin, the Canadian loonie and
America have been minting dollar coins in gold,toonie, the 1 and 2 Australian dollar coins, the 50
silver, and base metal varieties. A silver dollarNew Taiwan dollar coin, the 1 and 2 Euro coins,
values at one dollar.and the 100 and 500 Japanese yen coin, to name
The term silver dollar can be misleading. While thea few; the silver dollar values still exist in these
metal silver is used, the whole term actuallycountries.
generally refers to any large white metal coin,Before dollar coins or silver dollars were born,
with a face value of one dollar, issued by thepaper currency was first tried out by a then
United States of America. Several purists havefledgling United States. However, this form of
expressed their concern about and protestmoney did not last long and in 1776, the
against the term, insisting that a dollar should notContinental Congress approved and carried out
be called silver unless it really contains some, ifplans for the production of silver coins to replace
not all, of the metal in question. Still, the termthe quickly failing Continental, which is what the
silver dollar lives on to pertain to coins withfledgling country called its paper currency.
one-dollar values.Unfortunately, silver coins were never actually
Beginning the twentieth century, dollar coins orproduced at the time, owing to the Revolutionary
silver dollars have found a significant decrease inWar which was taking place. Thomas Jefferson,
popular acceptance in circulation in the Unitedinfluenced by the failure of the Continental and the
States of America. Since 1971, there have beenoverall distrust in paper currency that was
many attempts to revive the silver dollars placewidespread during the period, wrote letters
as legal tender, with suggestions to phase in aindicating his desire for the United States to mint
coin to replace the one dollar bill, but all havecoins that have similar value with and worth to
proved futile. Other developed countries, on thecontemporary foreign coins. Indeed, such is the
other hand, still have denominations of like valueclamor for coins and silver dollar values.