On May 16, 1866, the United States Congress authorized a new five-cent coin made primarily of nickel, giving rise to one of the most familiar pieces of American currency. The coin was small, practical, and durable, but its creation reflected something larger than a…
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On March 14, 1900, President William McKinley signed the Gold Standard Act, ending one of the fiercest monetary fights in American history and formally placing the nation’s currency on the gold standard. The law did not invent America’s attachment to gold out of thin…
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