In providing for the coinage of the precious metals Congress established, by the act of April 2, 1792, the standard of value, consisting of certain gold and silver coins, at a ratio of 15 to 1 - that is to say, the value of an ounce of fine gold was in effect declared to be equal to the value of fifteen ounces of fine silver.

A list of the coins authorized by the acts of April 2, 1792, with the weights and fineness, will be found below. Both gold and silver coins were declared to be standards.

The ratio of 15 to 1 was adopted in pursuance of investigations conducted by Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, who, in his report upon the subject, said that 15 to 1 was a near approximation to the commercial value of the two metals. It was soon discovered, however, that gold at the ratio of 15 to 1 was undervalued, and silver became practically the only metallic money available for use in the United States. In 1834 the ratio was changed to 16.002 to 1, and in 1837 it was changed to 15.988 to 1. That is the present ratio and is commonly called 16 to 1. By this change silver was undervalued and gold came into use in its place.

By the act of February 12, 1873, the coinage of the standard silver dollar was discontinued, and the gold dollar of 25.8 grains of standard gold, .900 fine, was declared to be the unit of value. The subsequent restoration of the coinage of silver dollars under the act of February 28, 1878, was on Government account, and did not restore the silver dollar to its former place as a standard of value.

But while Congress provided for the so-called double or bimetallic standard, such double standard has never been effective in the United States. From 1792 to 1834 silver was the metal by which all values were measured, and since 1834 gold has been and still is the sole actual standard.