Act of Congress, February 9, 1793.
Spanish milled coinage was declared legal tender indefinitely. A Spanish milled dollar was set at 100 cents and its fractionals accordingly. That status did not change until 1857.
Also the coinage was given special "no melt" status.
So, Spanish colonial reales were our first true dollars and cents.
Interesting numismatic history, IMHO.
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Un...on/Chapter_5