President Grant requested that the government pay its debts in both gold and silver, which were still legal specie. The days of using silver was limited. President Grant and Congress believed the Coinage Act would benefit the United States. “The United States Constitution gave Congress the power to coin money, and regulate the value and foreign coin and prohibited the states from making anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts.” (Friedman, 1990) The Panic of 1873 caused Congress to increase the greenbacks, which resulted to getting the silver coin back.
