When the $1 Note was Silver-Backed

Paul M. Green

Many coin collectors still remember when silver coins disappeared from circulation following the implementation of the Coinage Act of 1965, but fewer remember the parallel disappearance of $1 Silver Certificates.
While there were also $5 and $10 Silver Certificates, until the $1 Federal Reserve Note was introduced for the first time with the Series 1963 issue, the $1 Silver Certificate basically was the only current $1 note issued by the United States for 35 years.
So not only was the government replacing silver coins as fast as it could with copper-nickel clad issues, it was also replacing the circulating $1 Silver Certificates with $1 Federal Reserve Notes.

As you might expect, a Silver Certificate was something you could present to the Treasury and ask for silver dollars (later silver bullion), but this right was terminated June 24, 1968.
At that point, the Silver Certificate was still legal tender, but it was no longer convertible into precious metal. It is an historical relic today that you can still spend if you are of a mind to and the clerk doesn’t think you are trying to pass a counterfeit.
The story of the $1 Silver Certificate, which dominated circulation for decades, is truly an interesting story and by assembling a collection of large-size (pre-1929) and small-size $1 Silver Certificates you can have a great collection while learning the story of one of the most interesting of all notes ever issued by the United States.

It would be safe to suggest that the Silver Certificate was every bit as much a result of the vast wealth of silver found in the Comstock Lode as the Morgan dollar and in fact, the two are very closely related. To understand the story, we have to go back to the Wild West and the Comstock Lode. The silver discovered in Nevada was a great boon to the local economy but it was also a fragile one as the silver was one of the largest discoveries in history. High production levels threatened the price of silver and that in turn threatened the profits of those who owned the mines.

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