The Gold Standard Act of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 was passed in 1900 (approved on March 14) and established gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 as the only standard for redeeming paper money

Paper Money

Paper Money is the second album by the band Montrose. It was released in 1974 and was the band's last album to feature Sammy Hagar as lead vocalist.-History:...

, stopping bimetallism

Bimetallism

In economics, bimetallism is a monetary standard in which the value of the monetary unit is defined as equivalent both to a certain quantity of gold and to a certain quantity of silver; such a system establishes a fixed rate of exchange between the two metals...

 (which had allowed silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 in exchange for gold). It was signed by President William McKinley

William McKinley

William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...

.

The Act fixed the value of the dollar

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

 at  grains of gold at 90% purity, equivalent to 23.22 grains (1.5046 grams) of pure gold.

The Gold Standard Act confirmed the nation's commitment to the gold standard

Gold standard

The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...

 by assigning gold a specific dollar value (just over $20.67 per Troy

Troy weight

Troy weight is a system of units of mass customarily used for precious metals, gemstones, and black powder.There are 12 troy ounces per troy pound, rather than the 16 ounces per pound found in the more common avoirdupois system. The troy ounce is 480 grains, compared with the avoirdupois ounce,...

 ounce

Ounce

The ounce is a unit of mass with several definitions, the most commonly used of which are equal to approximately 28 grams. The ounce is used in a number of different systems, including various systems of mass that form part of the imperial and United States customary systems...

). This took place after McKinley sent a team to Europe to try to figure out a silver agreement with France and Great Britain.

On April 25, 1933 the United States and Canada dropped the gold standard.

See also

• Gold standard
  Gold standard
  The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...
  
  
• Resumption Act
• Bland-Allison Act
  Bland-Allison Act
  The Bland–Allison Act was an 1878 act of Congress requiring the U.S. Treasury to buy a certain amount of silver and put it into circulation as silver dollars. Though the bill was vetoed by President Rutherford B...
  
  
• Sherman Silver Purchase Act
  Sherman Silver Purchase Act
  The Sherman Silver Purchase Act was enacted on July 14, 1890 as a United States federal law. It was named after its author, Senator John Sherman, an Ohio Republican, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee...
  
  

External links

• Gold Standard Act (text of the Act)
• Gold Standard Act of 1900 (discussion)