What was used as currency(money) in the United States from 1800-1850?
The first U.S. Mint was established in 1792, due to the Coinage Act. This act also set up the first official United States money system. Congress established an American dollar as the basic unit of this money system. The American and Spanish dollars had about the same value. Both gold and silver coins were used in this new system and Congress chose the decimal system to count units of money because it was easy to use. Americans continued to use many foreign coins along with their new money. A law passed in 1793 made these foreign coins a legal part of the U.S. coinage system, but things were still very confusing. Under this law, the value of a foreign coin depended on the amount of silver or gold it had in it. By 1857, Congress passed another law removing foreign coins from circulation. During the 1800’s, American banks issued paper notes to borrowers. The First and Second Banks of the United States supported their own notes with reserves of gold coins. People were glad to use these no
