50 Years Ago The Coinage Act Debases US Coinage, Replaces Silver With Clad

When Lyndon B Johnson told the American people that the US government would replace the currently circulated silver coinage with clad coins, most people didn’t think anything of it. After all, in his speech, Lyndon B. Johnson had assured nobody would hoard the coins and that there was still plenty of silver, just not enough coins. So, on July 23, 1965, the US Coinage Act passed as law of the land, and the silver from the dimes and quarter dollars were stripped totally.

The speech by then President Lyndon B Johnson is filled with interesting comments, as he announces “the first fundamental change in our coinage in 173 years,” as precious metals retailer GoldSilverBitcoin writes. The Coinage Act of 1965 would make the act of 1792 null-and-void. Johnson acknowledged that for so long the US’s coins were minted with silver, but said that would have to change.  As the President spoke:

Now, all of you know these changes are necessary for a very simple reason–silver is a scarce material. Our uses of silver are growing as our population and our economy grows. The hard fact is that silver consumption is now more than double new silver production each year. So, in the face of this worldwide shortage of silver, and our rapidly growing need for coins, the only really prudent course was to reduce our dependence upon silver for making our coins.

The President said that the silver coins won’t disappear.  “We estimate that there are now 12 billion–I repeat, more than 12 billion silver dimes and quarters and half dollars that are now outstanding,” the President said. “We will make another billion before we halt production. And they will be used side-by-side with our new coins.”

In the last fifty years, silver has increased in price. In 1980, the so-called “devil’s metal” increased in price to $50. Again, in spring 2011, the price increased to nearly $50 once more. People today buy these silver coins as so-called “junk silver” as precious metals investments. This is not the first time the US government made a big decision regarding silver. In 1873, the US government went so far as to demonetize silver.

Justin O’Connell is the founder of GoldSilverBitcoin & the co-host of Ovoss.fm