View source for Coinage Act of 1792

{{Short description|US legislation for a national currency and mint}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
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| longtitle         = An Act establishing a Mint, and regulating the Coins of the United States.
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| signedpresident = [[George Washington]]
| signeddate      = April 2, 1792
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The '''Coinage Act of 1792''' (also known as the '''Mint Act'''; officially: ''An act establishing a mint, and regulating the Coins of the United States''), passed by the [[United States Congress]] on April 2, 1792, created the [[United States dollar]] as the country's standard [[Currency|unit of money]], established the [[United States Mint]], and regulated the [[coinage of the United States]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nussbaum |first=Arthur |date=November 1937 |title=The Law of the Dollar |journal=[[Columbia Law Review]] |volume=37 |issue=7 |pages=1059 |doi=10.2307/1116782 |jstor=1116782}}</ref> This act established the silver dollar as the unit of money in the United States, declared it to be [[legal tender|lawful tender]], and created a [[decimal]] system for U.S. currency.<ref>{{cite web| title = Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia: Money in Colonial Times | publisher = [[Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia]] | url = http://www.philadelphiafed.org/education/resources/money-in-colonial-times/#06 |access-date = 2008-04-02 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111121130109/http://www.philadelphiafed.org/education/teachers/resources/money-in-colonial-times/ | archive-date=November 21, 2011}}</ref>

By the Act, the Mint was to be situated at the [[Washington, D.C.|seat of government]] of the United States. The five original officers of the U.S. Mint were a Director, an Assayer, a Chief Coiner, an Engraver, and a [[Treasurer of the United States|Treasurer]] (not the same as the [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]]). The Act allowed that one person could perform the functions of Chief Coiner and Engraver. The Assayer, Chief Coiner and Treasurer were required to post a $10,000 [[Bond (finance)|bond]] with the Secretary of the Treasury.

The Act [[Fixed exchange-rate system|pegged]] the newly created United States dollar to the value of the widely used [[Spanish dollar|Spanish silver dollar]], saying it was to have "the value of a Spanish milled dollar as the same is now current".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=371 |title=Section 9 of the Coinage Act of 1792 |publisher=Memory.loc.gov |access-date=August 24, 2010}}</ref>

==History==
Although some of the provisions in the 1792 Coinage Act were adjusted as time went by, the majority of the rules specified in this Act remained in effect for decades.  Essentially, it provided the framework for all subsequent coinage design and production. The Act called for an image emblematic of liberty as well as the word "liberty", and the year of the coinage. It further declared that on the reverse of each gold and silver coin there would also be the representation of an eagle, with the inscription, "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA". On the reverse of the copper coins, there express the denomination of the coin as one-cent or half-cent.<ref name="USMint">{{cite web |title=Coinage Act of April 2, 1792|url=https://www.usmint.gov/learn/history/historical-documents/coinage-act-of-april-2-1792|publisher=U.S. Mint|date=April 19, 2017|access-date=June 14, 2021}}</ref> The Act specified the issuing of three gold coins comprising a $10 gold coin called an "eagle", a $5 coin called a "half eagle", and a $2.5 coin called a "quarter eagle".<ref>{{cite book|title=Scott Travers' Top 88 Coins to Buy and Sell|first=Scott|last=Travers|author-link=Scott A. Travers|publisher=Random House Information Group|date=2007|access-date=June 14, 2021|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QudoufcJ30C|isbn=9780375722219|page=117}}</ref> The Act also authorized construction of a [[Philadelphia Mint|mint building in Philadelphia]], the nation's capital at the time.  This was the first federal building erected under the [[United States Constitution]].  Mint director [[David Rittenhouse]] laid the building's [[cornerstone]] on July 31.

===''An Act to Provide For a Copper Coinage''===
On May 8, 1792, ''An Act to Provide For a Copper Coinage'' [1 Stat. [https://uslaw.link/citation/stat/1/283 283]]] was signed into law by President [[George Washington]]. It followed the precedent of the [[Fugio Cent|Fugio cent]] of 1787 in establishing the copper cent, from which descends today's one-cent piece.  The Act also stipulated that "the director of the mint... be authorized to contract for and purchase a quantity of copper, not exceeding one hundred and fifty tons... to be coined at the mint into cents and half-cents... and be paid into the treasury of the United States, thence to issue into circulation."  Furthermore, it said that "no copper coins or pieces whatsoever except the said cents and half-cents, shall pass current as money, or shall be paid, or offered to be paid or received in payment for any debt, demand, claims, matter or thing whatsoever." It also stated that people caught trying to knowingly pass or receive foreign copper coinage in a transaction will have it confiscated and all parties fined $10.

==Effects==
Merchants and bankers were reluctant to bring silver bullion to the Mint because of the disclosure of the illegal silver standard that was previously in effect.{{clarify|date=June 2016}} The silver coins produced in 1794 and 1795 honored the official overall weight of the coin (at 416 grains), but employed a 0.900 fine standard instead of the [[Spanish dollar]] 0.8924 fine standard as prescribed in the Mint Act of April 2, 1792.<ref>Heritage Coin Auction #390, Vol III, p.&nbsp;117</ref> Since the overall weight of the coin remained the same, but the purity was increased, each coin had an excess of precious metal content (416 &times; 0.9 = 374.4 grains; vs. 416 &times; 0.8924 = 371.2384 grains; thus: 374.4 - 371.2384 = +3.1616 grains); but since the value of the coin was determined by its face value, this excess precious metal was essentially wasted. The most immediate effect of this practice was that depositors ended up paying an additional 3.1616 grains (0.205 grams) of silver bullion (almost 1% extra; 3.1616 / 371.2384 = 0.8%) for every dollar they received.<ref>Taxay, 1966, p.&nbsp;89</ref> When this became widely known, bullion deposits brought to the mint declined significantly in 1796 and 1797.

==Authorization and free coinage==
{{More citations needed|section|date=January 2025}}
The Act authorized production of the following coins:<ref>{{cite web |title=Coinage Act of 1792 |publisher=[[United States Congress]] | url=http://nesara.org/files/coinage_act_1792.pdf |access-date=2008-04-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040407164627/http://nesara.org/files/coinage_act_1792.pdf |archive-date=2004-04-07 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background-color:rgba(255,215,0,.25);"
| [[Eagle (United States coin)|Eagles]] || $10.00
| {{frac|247|4|8}} [[grain (measure)|grain]] (16.04 g) pure or 270 grain (17.5 g) standard [[gold]]
|- style="background-color:rgba(255,215,0,.25);"
|[[Half eagle]]s|| $5.00
| {{frac|123|6|8}} grain (8.02 g) pure or 135 grain (8.75 g) standard gold
|- style="background-color:rgba(255,215,0,.25);"
|[[Quarter eagle]]s|| $2.50
| {{frac|61|7|8}} grain (4.01 g) pure or {{frac|67|4|8}} grain (4.37 g) standard gold
|- style="background-color:rgba(192,192,192,.25);"
| [[Dollar coin (United States)|Dollars]] or Units || $1.00
| {{frac|371|4|16}} grain (24.1 g) pure or 416 grain (27.0 g) standard [[silver]]
|- style="background-color:rgba(192,192,192,.25);"
| [[Half dollar (United States coin)|Half dollar]]s || $0.50
| {{frac|185|10|16}} grain (12.0 g) pure or 208 grain (13.5 g) standard silver
|- style="background-color:rgba(192,192,192,.25);"
| [[Quarter (United States coin)|Quarter dollar]]s || $0.25
| {{frac|92|13|16}} grain (6.01 g) pure or 104 grains (6.74 g) standard silver
|- style="background-color:rgba(192,192,192,.25);"
| [[Dime (United States coin)|Dismes]]<!-- "disme" is the law's spelling; please do not change to "dime" -->|| $0.10
| {{frac|37|2|16}} grain (2.41 g) pure or {{frac|41|3|5}} grain (2.70 g) standard silver
|- style="background-color:rgba(192,192,192,.25);"
| [[Half dime|Half dismes]]<!-- "disme" is the law's spelling; please do not change to "dime" -->|| $0.05
| {{frac|18|9|16}} grain (1.20 g) pure or {{frac|20|4|5}} grain (1.35 g) standard silver
|- style="background-color:rgba(218,138,103,.25);"
|[[Penny (United States coin)|Cents]] or Pennies|| $0.01
| 11 [[pennyweight]]s (17.1 g) of [[copper]]
|- style="background-color:rgba(218,138,103,.25);"
| [[Half cent (United States coin)|Half cent]]s || $0.005
| {{frac|5|1|2}} pennyweights (8.55 g) of copper
|}
The coins were to contain the following markings:
*One side was to have an impression emblematic of liberty, with the inscription "Liberty", and the year of the coinage.
*The reverse side of each of the gold and silver coins was to have the figure or representation of an eagle with the inscription "U<small>NITED</small> S<small>TATES OF</small> A<small>MERICA</small>".
*The reverse of the copper coins was to have an inscription expressing the denomination.

Images of Liberty would remain a standard part of US coinage through the 19th century and into the early 20th. While European coins typically included a portrait of the reigning monarch, the idea of depicting a real, as opposed to an allegorical, figure was considered unacceptable in the republican United States. The image of Liberty used on US coins generally reflected contemporary standards of female beauty, and was redesigned every few decades to reflect the changing times, although the Seated Liberty image which graced coins starting in 1837 would end up being used for over half a century. Not until the Lincoln cent, issued in 1909 to commemorate the centenary of President Lincoln's birth, would a real person be depicted on a US coin.

The Act defined the proportional value of gold and silver as 15 units of pure silver to 1 unit of pure gold. Standard gold was defined as 11 parts pure gold to one part alloy composed of silver and copper. Standard silver was defined as 1485 parts pure silver to 179 parts copper alloy. The Act also specified the dollar as the "money of account" of the United States, and directed that all accounts of the federal government be kept in dollars, "[[dime (U.S. coin)|dismes]]", [[cent (currency)|cent]]s, and "[[mill (currency)|milles]]", a mille being one-tenth of a cent or one-thousandth of a dollar.  The silver content of a dollar under this act was almost exactly equal to <sup>1</sup>/<sub>5</sub> of the silver content of the contemporary British [[pound sterling]], or 4 British shillings.

Under Sec.14, any person could bring gold or silver bullion and have it coined for free or later for a small fee, exchange it immediately for an equivalent value of coin. The paragraph summary states: "Persons may bring gold and silver bullion, to be coined free of expense;".

[[Quality control]] measures were implemented in that from each separate mass of gold or silver used to produce coins, three coins were set aside by the treasurer. Each year on the last Monday in July, under the inspection of the [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]], the Secretary and Comptroller of the Treasury, the [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]], and the [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]], the coins were to be [[assay]]ed and if the coins did not meet established standards, the officers were disqualified from office. The meetings later became formalized as the [[United States Assay Commission]], which continued meeting until it was disbanded in 1980.

Section 19 of the Act established a penalty of death for debasing the gold or silver coins authorized by the Act, or embezzlement of the metals for those coins, by officers or employees of the mint; this section of the Act apparently remains in effect{{Original research inline|date=January 2025}} and would, in theory, continue to apply in the case of "any of the gold or silver coins which shall be struck or coined at the said mint". (At present the only gold or silver coins struck by the US mint are the [[American Silver Eagle]] and the [[American Gold Eagle]] coins, some [[proof coinage]] at the [[San Francisco Mint]], such as the silver [[50 State Quarters|US State Quarters]], and much of the [[United States commemorative coin|Commemorative coinage of the United States]].) All other sections of the act have been superseded, as the [[Coinage Act of 1834]] changing the silver-to-gold weight ratio. Various acts have subsequently been passed affecting the amount and type of metal in U.S. coins, so today there is no legal definition of the term "dollar" to be found in any U.S. statute.<ref name="At Large2">{{cite book |title=United States Statutes at Large}}</ref> Current statutes regulating coinage in the United States may be found in [[Title 31 of the United States Code]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Money|Numismatics|United States}}
*[[Coinage Act of 1834]]
*[[Coinage Act of 1849]]
*[[Coinage Act of 1853]]
*[[Coinage Act of 1857]]
*[[Coinage Act of 1864]]
*[[Coinage Act of 1873]]
*[[Coinage Act of 1965]]
*[[Mill (currency)]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last=Nussbaum |first=Arthur |date=November 1937 |title=The Law of the Dollar |journal=[[Columbia Law Review]] |volume=37 |issue=7 |pages=1057–1091 |doi=10.2307/1116782|jstor=1116782 }}
* {{cite book|last=Allen|first=Larry|title=The Encyclopedia of Money|year=2009|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|edition=2nd|place=[[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara, CA]]|pages=74–76|isbn=978-1598842517}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|United States Statutes at Large/Volume 1/2nd Congress/1st Session/Chapter 16|Coinage Act of 1792}}
*[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=369 Facsimile of the Coinage Act of 1792] in the Statutes at Large from the Library of Congress
*[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=406 Facsimile of the Act to provide for a Copper Coinage] in the Statutes at Large from the Library of Congress

{{George Washington}}
{{Alexander Hamilton}}
{{Money and central banking within the contemporary United States (pre–1913)}}

[[Category:1792 in American law]]
[[Category:United States federal currency legislation]]
[[Category:United States Mint]]
[[Category:Presidency of George Washington]]
[[Category:2nd United States Congress]]
[[Category:1792 in economic history]]