Many collectors think of coins like the Morgan and Peace silver dollars as wholly American things. It’s not hard to see why – both of these coins carry classic, patriotic designs that hearken to the ideals of liberty and freedom. But while the United States silver dollar may be a widely adored coin, one that many could claim to be the most popularly collected American numismatists, the denomination or its original form are hardly original to the United States.
In fact, the very concept of the United States silver dollar hails not from American invention but Spanish ingenuity and Mexican minting might. The coin that inspired the United States silver dollar is the Spanish dollar, also known as the Pieces of Eight or Eight Reales – a coin struck in Mexico and other colonies in the Spanish Empire.
The Pieces of Eight was first struck in 1497 and became the first global currency, seeing widespread use throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The coin measures approximately 38 millimeters in diameter and contains 25.563 grams of fine silver. The coin’s uniform specifications and the fact it was milled with edge reeding made it popular for international trade. The widely trusted coin also compelled other nations to adopt silver coins of similar characteristics, with Bohemia producing a similar coin known as a Joachimsthaler, The Netherlands striking the Bugundian Cross thaler, and the Germans creating the Rijksdaalder.
And this takes us to the newly born United States, which began devising plans for a formal monetary system in the years after the nation’s founding in 1776. The Spanish dollar was widely circulating throughout the United States during the late 18th century, and the coin became the basis for planning the fledgling nation’s new unit of currency to be known as the dollar. As spelled out in the Coinage Act of 1792, which established the United States Mint and predicated the nation’s new monetary system, the U.S. silver dollar was mandated to contain 24.057 grams of pure silver or 26.96 grams of standard silver. These figures weren’t arbitrary. They represent the average weight of circulated Spanish dollars as determined by a team overseen by United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.
The first United States silver dollars were struck in 1794, and they co-circulated with Spanish silver dollars and other foreign coins in American commerce for decades. Eventually, enough United States silver dollars were in circulation to support the needs of the growing nation, and the Coinage Act of 1857 demonetized Spanish dollars and other foreign coins still in circulation. However, the Spanish dollar remains one of the world’s most popular collectible coins. It also will always hold the distinction of being the direct inspiration for so many other large silver coins around the world, including the beloved United States silver dollar.