Gold Standard Act in the context of "Silver certificate (United States)"

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⭐ Core Definition: Gold Standard Act

The Gold Standard Act was an Act of the United States Congress, signed by President William McKinley and effective on March 14, 1900, defining the United States dollar by gold weight and requiring the United States Treasury to redeem, on demand and in gold coin only, paper currency the Act specified.

The Act formalized the American gold standard that the Coinage Act of 1873, which demonetized silver, and the Resumption Act of 1875, which made all legal tender notes redeemable in gold at the Treasury, had established by default. Before and after the Act, silver currency including silver certificates and the silver dollar circulated at face value as fiat currency not redeemable for gold.

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Gold Standard Act in the context of United States dollar

The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it into 100 cents, and authorized the minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents. U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes, popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green color.

The U.S. dollar was originally defined under a bimetallic standard of 371.25 grains (24.057 g) (0.7734375 troy ounces) fine silver or, from 1834, 23.22 grains (1.505 g) fine gold, or $20.67 per troy ounce. The Gold Standard Act of 1900 linked the dollar solely to gold. From 1934, its equivalence to gold was revised to $35 per troy ounce. In 1971 all links to gold were repealed. The U.S. dollar became an important international reserve currency after the First World War, and displaced the pound sterling as the world's primary reserve currency by the Bretton Woods Agreement towards the end of the Second World War. The dollar is the most widely used currency in international transactions, and a free-floating currency. It is also the official currency in several countries and the de facto currency in many others, with Federal Reserve Notes (and, in a few cases, U.S. coins) used in circulation.

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Gold Standard Act in the context of Limping bimetallism

Limping bimetallism was a monetary system in the United States that was dependent partially on silver but primarily on gold. It was developed after the abandonment of bimetallism and the adoption of the gold standard in 1873. The Bland–Allison Act of 1878 allowed the coining of new silver dollars, thus creating this system. Contrary to popular belief, the limping standard was not abandoned upon enactment of the Gold Standard Act of 1900.

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Gold Standard Act in the context of Executive Order 6102

Executive Order 6102 is an executive order signed on April 5, 1933, by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt forbidding "the hoarding of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates within the continental United States". The executive order was made under the authority of the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, as amended by the Emergency Banking Relief Act in March 1933.

At the time and in the years that followed, this policy was highly controversial and faced criticism from those who asserted it was "completely immoral" and "a flagrant violation of the solemn promises made in the Gold Standard Act of 1900" and promises made to purchasers of Liberty and Victory Loans during World War I. The critics also claimed this executive order would lead to an inflation of supply of credit and currency, which would cause a fraudulent economic boom which would inevitably bust and result in a depression.

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