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I left out an earlier step on my previous post. I should have added - "Paper currency drove the silver coinage out of circulation."
It really spead up the process but silver coinage stated disappearing in 1861 after it became clear the war was not going to be a quick "over and done" affair. The Federal green backs didn't come along until 1862 at which point Gresham's law took over and the "bad" money drove out the "good".