Ok so it is actually one large, very frail sheet. I have a document protector large enough to display it open but it is too frail to get it inside. So I have it folded in half in a 8.5x11 protector that fits in my safe.
"Legal Tender" became "Legal TO Tender". They could be used after that date at their value in silver, at treasury offices, land offices, and customs houses. They were not paid back out but were sent to the mint to be recoined into Federal coinage. Private businesses could accept anything they wanted and payout anything customers would accept. The act of 1857 imposed a haircut on the common "Spanish" (Mexican) dollar which was worth only 80c. It required the Director of the Mint to report on the silver content and value of coins commonly in circulation as part of his annual report. You can see these tables into the 191xs. You can also see the amount bought in, some years it might be $1M, others $30M.
SOME foreign coins were legal tender. But even the ones that weren't legal tender would typically be accepted based on their weight and metal content. Actually in 1853 the silver dollar had $1.04 worth of silver in it. The gold discoveries in California had depressed the market value of gold making silver more valuable with respect to gold. This resulted in the silver in the coins being worth more than theor face value. The act of 1853 reduced the amount of silver in the minor coins making them once again worth slightly less than their face value. But the weight of the dollar was not reduced and so it was now worth $1.04 on gold.
Fair enough. I knew there were times when silver spiked, I just didn't recall right off that circa 1853 was one of them.
I am a member of the liberty seated collectors club. I sent them the images. See if anyone there knows anything about the print, or it's origins. So will update here if I hear anything back.
Well normally I "would" say - gonna getcha for that ! But I'm behind the curve on that line as it is. So I guess the line will just get a little longer
Are there any notation or hint of a publisher on the pages? Looks like an appendix from a book of some type.