Coinage Act of 1834

E1896

The Coinage Act of 1834 was a U.S. law that significantly altered the gold-to-silver ratio and the gold content of coins, helping to stabilize the currency and encourage the circulation of gold.


Statements (47)
Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute
monetary law
amended Coinage Act of 1792
appliesTo United States dollar
associatedWithPolicy hard money policy
changedGoldContentOf Eagle (10-dollar gold coin)
Half Eagle (5-dollar gold coin)
Quarter Eagle (2.50-dollar gold coin)
changedGoldSilverRatioFrom 15:1
changedGoldSilverRatioTo approximately 16:1
country United States
dateEnacted 1834-06-28
effect altered relative market values of gold and silver in U.S. law
changed legal gold-to-silver ratio in the United States
discouraged export and melting of U.S. gold coins
encouraged circulation of gold coins
reduced gold content of U.S. gold coins
field economic history of the United States
numismatics
followedBy Coinage Act of 1849
Coinage Act of 1853
hasEffectOn relative circulation of gold and silver coins in the United States
historicalPeriod Jacksonian era
implementedBy United States Mint
jurisdiction United States federal government
languageOfWork English
legalStatus public law of the United States
legislativeBody United States Congress
locationOfImplementation United States Mint facilities
monetarySystem bimetallic standard
officeholderSigning President of the United States
precededBy Coinage Act of 1792
previousGoldPurity 0.9167 fine
purpose bring U.S. statutory gold-silver ratio closer to world market ratio
promote use of gold as circulating medium
stabilize U.S. currency
reducedGoldPurityTo 0.8992 fine
regulates specie coinage in the United States
revised Coinage Act of 1792
signedBy Andrew Jackson
subject U.S. coinage
bimetallism
gold standard
monetary policy of the United States
silver standard
typeOfStatute coinage act
yearEnacted 1834

Referenced by (1)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Coinage Act of 1792
replacedBy

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