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Description and Holding Information
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House. Select Comm. on Currency. Report, 1840
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House No. 66 On February 4, 1840, a five man committee was directed to consider prohibiting banks from issuing bills of less than $2 in 1841 and
less than $5 in 1842 with the goal of having more of the paper money backed by specie. In March, the Committee submitted a report. It considered the
consequences of no bills of less than $5 only and sent both a majority and minority report. An estimated $1,500,000 in small bills was circulating at
the time, augmented by silver coins. There was a time when the same plan of severely limiting small bills was tried, but it was a signal failure. At
the current time, no one has complained about or seemed to have lost faith in the paper money in circulation, so it seemed foolish to change the
system. The committee discussed the pros and cons at length and the majority declined to change the number of bills available. The minority sent a
series of Resolves insisting that a specie based currency was best, with at least 50% of the paper money backed by specie in bank vaults. The easiest way
to achieve this was by limiting the number of small bills. This approach would work best if the contiguous states would join in the effort. The
Governor should send the Resolves to the Legislatures of neighboring states. (Digitized from a microfilm copy of title originally held by the
Massachusetts State Library).
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Title:
Ordered, that so much of the governor's address, as relates to the currency be referred to Messrs. Lincoln, of Worcester, Goodwin, of Boston, Winthrop, of Watertown, Grant, of Salem, Russell, of Plymouth.
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OCLC Number:
1419641058
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Available Volumes
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| Name | Fiche Count | Online | Paper Backup |
| Vol. 1 | | Yes | No |
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