Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="cwtokenman, post: 769605, member: 2100"]Hello Clinker,  First, I want to say how much I enjoy all of the trivia that you post on this board. I know I don't say it nearly often enough, but I find them very enjoyable and informative reads. With this thread though, there are a few pieces of information that conflict with what I have read and is contained in my reference material on this subject. I am a collector of this material (there is an album on my page that shows a small portion of my Bryan Money collection), so I read this post with great interest.   While H & K refers to them as Bryan Dollars, just about everyone else refers to them as "Bryan Money". The words "Bryan Money" can even be found on some varieties in this series. These pieces bear dates of 1896, 1897, 1900 & 1908. I did not see any bearing the date of 1910, although restrikes were made at that time. Bryan's political platform was backing the bimetallic system, not a position of trying to abandon it. The bimetallic issue had its beginnings back in 1873 when a bill slipped through Congress which did not state the demonetization of silver, but rather appeared to be a direction of minting measures and procedures. "That the gold coins of the United States shall be a one dollar piece, which, at the weight of twenty-five and eight tenth grains shall be the unit of value. That the silver coins of the United States shall be a trade dollar, a half dollar or fifty cent piece, a quarter dollar or twenty five cent piece, a dime or ten cent piece; and said coins shall be a legal tender at their nominal value for any amount not exceeding five dollars in any one payment." "That no coins either of gold or silver, or minor coinage shall hereafter be issued from the mint, other than those of the denominations, standards and weights herein set forth." (17 statutes, 424) Did you catch that the standard silver dollar was omitted from the list? I think the legislators at the time did not. To some, that omission became known as The Crime of 1873, and was one of the earliest precursors to the financial issues of 1896 presidential election. A five year long depression began in 1873, during which time a return to bimetallism was urged by the silver supporters. The Bland-Allison Act (passed over Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes veto) called for the expansion of silver coinage and was passed on Feb. 28, 1878. During this time, greenbacks were required to have gold backing, to which the public could demand. Hayes was able to accumulate enough gold in the Treasury however, to put a stop to the public's demand for exchanging greenbacks for gold, which helped to restore public confidence and improve the economy. The industrial revolution brought a return to hard times in 1884, when hundreds of thousands of workers were replaced by machines. On average, an industrial machine could replace 20 workers. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 called for Treasury Notes to be issued, but did not restore the silver dollar to a coequal bimetallic standard. Without going into all of the details, deflation resulted, and worsened to become the Panic of 1893. Most Bryan Money was made to be distributed (sold) at political rallies. The many producers and variance in metal supplies led to a wide variety of sizes, styles, and metals for this pieces, which were made by both striking and casting methods. They were used as a method of communication, as is evidenced by many of the slogans on them. Remember, at that time, there were no televisions, radios or automobiles, and even newspapers were not quickly distributed over wide areas. These were like mini billboards trying to persuade political opinion. While many of the off metal pieces of Bryan Money are in the 88-90mm diameter range, some are as large as 104mm, 6.5mm thick. and could weigh up to 520G. A pocket full of those would certainly make one lean to the side. Materials used in production included type metal, babbitt, copper, white copper, lead, silver, nickel, bronze, white bronze, aluminum, iron, tin plate, coin silver, low grade silver, zinc, white metal, silvered cardboard, brass, and sheet brass backed with sheet tin (this style was made as large as 151mm in diameter). Some of those metals were changed in appearance by being plated with silver, nickel, or chrome, painted with an aluminum paint, or gilded. I won't get into it now as this is already a lengthy post, but many believe that the story "The Wizard of Oz" written by L. Frank Baum, and first published on August 1, 1900, was an allegory of the silver and gold issues of the 1890s. Baum's background would have lent itself to such a monetary allegory very easily. It is believed that the characters in the story represented people in real life. For instance, it is believed that William Jennings Bryan was represented by the Cowardly Lion, as it was feared that he would put other issues ahead of the silver issue in the 1900 election. The scarecrow represented the American farmer, the Tin man was the American factory worker, and so on. Oz was for an ounce of gold. Think about the many things were the color of money - gold or green (the slippers were green in the book). I hope you find my additional information to be of interest.[/QUOTE]

Create my FREE Account!

Log in or Sign up

Reply to Thread

Useful Searches