Of either a $1 note, or a silver dollar, which do you think the average working citizen was more likely to have on his person in the early 20th century?
Definitely paper. Silver dollars never really circulated in this country because people hated the things.
ding ding ding . The Value of a Dollar Coast-Coast in july 1873> East Coast Paper- 1.00 West Coast Paper. 0.86 Silver Dollar . 1.12/0.97
A common misconception. Yes, what few silver dollars actually did circulate did it in the west. But they were by no means the prevalent form of money used - paper was.
As a side note to this post, I was also thinking about the size of men's wallets-if they carried wallets in those days- because of the size of the larger notes, then in circulation. Probably change purses were more common as most probably didn't earn much more than a dollar or two a day at that time.
For a very long time, factory workers in this area were paid in silver dollars. I've heard many old-timers tell me how their parents (or themselves) were paid in silver dollars.
If you have the capability of reading The Numismatist online, the April issue has a terrific article relating to this subject matter, titled " Dollar Power " . It's a good read for those who want the skinny on East vs West .
