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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Dougmeister, post: 3032241, member: 56842&quot;]Could it have had something to do with the prevalence of the Mexican dollar (peso?) in American commerce?</p><p><br /></p><p>Edit: found the answer <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1075589" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1075589" rel="nofollow">here</a>:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><i>The early dollars from the United States Mint were not instantly embraced by the public, which had become accustomed to the dollar&#039;s predecessor, the Spanish-American Piece of Eight. That coin contained slightly more silver than its new competitor.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>Then some entrepreneurs made an interesting discovery. They could buy American dollars, send them to the West Indies, and exchange them there at par for Spanish-American Pieces of Eight. Then they could bring the pesos home, turn them in to the Mint for melting, and make a profit by getting paid back in shiny new dollars.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>When the scheme was uncovered, it resulted in a thirty-year halt in dollar production, beginning in 1805. </i></p></blockquote><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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