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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Tamaracian, post: 5999824, member: 23122&quot;]Specie (a.k.a hard currency in the form of coins of various metal composition) was used as the standard for value and trade from about 2,600 years ago through the late 1800&#039;s; Gold and Silver being precious metals had intrinsically more value than Copper or Bronze coins and therefore the issuers (i.e. King or Government Body) would peg the value of the Gold or Silver in a ratio of say 10:1; 20:1; or 100:1.&nbsp; Over time (due to inflation or the need to raise capital for wars or projects, or just for reasons of greed) the issuers would revise the ratios, or reduce the actual weight or content of precious metal in the coins but keep the stamped face value the same.&nbsp; Ancient coins by their nature of manufacture lent themselves to being altered by debasement of alloy, by clipping or by filing.&nbsp; Eventually, issuers introduced standards of purity, weight and dimensions to make their coinage uniform so that they would more easily be accepted for international trade (NOTE: since the advent of balances for weighing, Governments weighed all coins that were obtained from other countries and did not rely on their face value alone to determine value), and to prevent widespread clipping or filing the Spaniards introduced milled (i.e. Reeded) coinage around the year 1500. </p><p><br /></p><p>Coinage of Silver and Gold coins started in 1794 and 1795, but at first, these coins didn’t circulate as European coins and some Central and South American coins were acceptable and considered Legal Tender for use in commerce up until 1857 (also Colonial and Privately Minted coins that generally circulated in the area around their issuance).&nbsp; The Coinage Act of 1792 set the ratio of Silver to Gold at 15:1, which was lower than the world market and therefore U.S. Gold coins were undervalued compared to Silver, so they were exported and melted.&nbsp; Silver Dollars were also exported for use in international trade or stored as bullion.</p><p><br /></p><p>During the early 19th century, depositors such as banks supplied the silver and gold for coining and chose which coins they wanted back. Their preference was for the <b><font size="4">largest denominations</font></b> of each metal. The Mint rarely coined the smaller denomination silver coins--half dimes, dimes, and quarters--needed for daily transactions.</p><p><br /></p><p>Up until the Civil War, Paper Currency was only in general use in the Eastern U.S. and was not generally accepted for use west of the Mississippi, as mining in Alaska, California, Colorado, the Dakotas, Nevada and Utah supplied the requirements for Gold and Silver coins out West (also, some did not trust Paper Money as the backing from the issuing local or national Banks were not necessarily secured by sufficient bullion or Specie reserves, and many of these Banks failed in tough times).&nbsp; Eventually, migration of &quot;Easterners&quot; with their Paper Currency eventually forced the Westerners to accept Paper Currency in trade.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>To answer your posted question <font size="4">&quot;<b>How much was a gold $20 Double Eagle worth in the late 1800s?&quot;</b></font> in 1875, for example, the New York Market Price was pegged at $23.75 per troy ounce, which affected the commercial markets, but the official Treasury valuation was still $20.67 per troy ounce.&nbsp; In the Eastern and Middle States the $20 double Eagle would be taken for face value in trade or exchange for other coin or Currency (exceptions were in times of national distress, such as the Civil War, where Specie was hoarded and Silver and Gold were bartered for on an unequal ratio to the face value of the coins), but in the Western states it was common to trade or barter in weight of coin, bullion, cakes or dust.&nbsp; Average wages in those days were very low in comparison to the $20 face value of a Double Eagle; as an example, a Farm Laborer earned an average of $19.87 per month.&nbsp; In that time period, the higher denomination Eagle and Double Eagle coins were generally reserved for large commercial, inter-bank, or international transactions; leaving the Half and Quarter Eagles (and for a limited period the $3 and $1 Gold coins) to use for wages and general commerce, but mostly in the Western states.</i>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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