Commems Collection Classic: What If? 1878 Silver Five-Cent Coin

I recently posted about a proposed metric system based coinage for the United States ("US") that included a provision for the striking of a silver five-cent coin (see it here: What If? 1884 US Metric System Coinage).

Proposing a silver five-cent coin was not new in 1884, however. A standalone proposal for a silver five-cent piece was introduced in the House of Representatives ("House") in January 1878 by Samuel Sullivan Cox (D-NY).

The bill was to authorize "the coinage of a five-cent piece of standard silver, and to discontinue the coinage of five-cent nickel-copper coins." The bill was referred to the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures.

The silver five-cent coin was to be 1/10th the weight of the half-dollar coin (i.e., 1.25 grams or ~0.04 troy ounces) and was to be legal tender "not exceeding five dollars in any one payment "to conform to the subsidiary silver coin provisions of the Coinage Act of 1873.

The bill did not specify a start date for the new circulating coin, but did state that once the bill was enacted the striking of the nickel-copper five-cent coins was to stop immediately.

The bill did not progress past its Committee assignment/review, and so the Mint continued to atrike the 75% copper / 25% nickel five-cent piece (i.e, Shield design) then in use.

1878 Shield Design Five-Cent Coin

(Image Credit: PCGS CoinFacts.)


For other of my posts about US and World coins and medals (though mostly US and/or Canada), see: Commems Collection