<P> The international trading partners did not like the fact that U.S. coins were reduced in weight . The use of much more common half dollars became problematic since merchants would have to separate higher value pre-1853 coins from the newer reduced ones . From 1853 onwards, trade with Asia was typically done with Mexican coins that kept their weight and purity in the 19th Century . This ended in 1874 when the price of silver dropped so that a silver dollar has less than $1.00 worth of silver in it (huge amounts of silver coming from the Nevada Comstock Lode mines). By 1876, all silver coins were being used as money and by 1878, gold was at par with all U.S. paper dollars . Beginning in 1878, huge amounts of the Morgan silver dollars were produced but few were used as money . The size was too large to carry on business so Silver Certificates were used instead . The mint made the coins, placed them in their vaults and issued the Silver Certificates instead . This is the reason so many Morgan and Peace dollars can be purchased in AU or UNC condition (near perfect)... they sat in bank / U.S. Treasury vaults most of the time . </P> <P> Each coin is composed of 0.77344 troy oz of silver . They were minted at Philadelphia, New Orleans, Carson City, and San Francisco . A Silver dollar is worth $1 in silver at $1.31 per troy ounce . The current silver price (March 10, 2017) is $17.01 per troy ounce so a silver dollar is worth, in melt value of about $13.15 US . </P> <P> The gold dollar was produced from 1849 to 1889 . 1849 to 1853 gold dollar coins were 13 mm across and are called Type I. Type II gold dollars were thinner but larger at 15 mm diameter and were produced from 1854 to 1855 . The most common gold dollar are the Type III and started in 1856 until 1889 . Production US $1 gold dollars was high until the Civil War and by 1863, only the larger value gold coins were produced in large quantities . Most gold coins produced from 1863 and onward were produced for imports to pay for enormous amounts of war material and interest on some U.S. Government bonds . Many of these coins from the Civil War and after (silver coins included) are in excellent condition since they saw very limited circulation with greenbacks and postage currency taking their place . </P> <P> Composed of 90% pure gold, it was the smallest denomination of gold currency ever produced by the United States federal government . When the U.S. system of coinage was originally designed there had been no plans for a gold dollar coin, but in the late 1840s, two gold rushes later, Congress was looking to expand the use of gold in the country's currency . The gold dollar was authorized by the Act of March 3, 1849, and the Liberty Head type began circulating soon afterward . Because of the high value of gold, the gold dollar is the smallest coin in the history of U.S. coinage . </P>

When was the first gold dollar coin made