1792 Coin Act NMS

Coinage Act of 1792

An Act Establishing a Mint, and Regulating the Coins of the United States

Approved April 2, 1792

Executive Summary

The Coinage Act of April 2, 1792, formally entitled An Act establishing a Mint, and regulating the Coins of the United States, established a national mint at the seat of the federal government and created the basic structure of United States coinage.

The Act established the dollar, or unit, as the central monetary unit and defined it in relation to the Spanish milled dollar then circulating in the United States. It created a decimal system based upon dollars, dimes, cents, and mills and authorized a complete series of gold, silver, and copper coins ranging from the ten-dollar Eagle to the Half Cent.

The Act also created the principal offices of the United States Mint, established metallic standards for gold and silver coins, prescribed the devices and inscriptions to appear on the coins, authorized individuals to bring gold and silver bullion to the Mint for coinage, declared United States gold and silver coins lawful tender, established an annual assay system for quality control, and imposed severe criminal penalties upon Mint officers who fraudulently debased or embezzled the nation’s coinage.

Few acts of the early federal Congress had such a direct and enduring effect upon everyday American economic life. The monetary vocabulary established in 1792, including the dollar, dime, cent, and decimal accounting system, became fundamental elements of the United States monetary system.

1796 United States Silver Dollar

Historical Context

The Act created a national coinage system for the new federal government under the Constitution. Rather than leaving monetary accounting dependent upon an assortment of foreign coins and differing local practices, Congress established a federal Mint and prescribed national denominations, metallic standards, weights, values, designs, accounting units, and administrative safeguards.

The statute is especially significant because Congress did more than authorize individual coins. It created an integrated monetary system. Gold, silver, and copper denominations were mathematically related to the dollar, and federal public accounts and court proceedings were required to use the same decimal system.

The Act therefore linked three functions of national government: coinage, monetary measurement, and federal accounting.

Establishment of the United States Mint

Section 1 established “a mint for the purpose of a national coinage” at the seat of the government of the United States. At the time, the seat of government was Philadelphia.

The statute created five principal Mint offices:

Director
Assayer
Chief Coiner
Engraver
Treasurer

The Director was placed in overall charge of the Mint. The Assayer received and tested metals brought for coinage. The Chief Coiner converted those metals into coins. The Engraver prepared the dies and coin designs. The Treasurer received completed coins and delivered them to the persons entitled to receive them.

First United States Mint, Philadelphia

The Coinage Act of April 2, 1792

The following is a clean presentation of the twenty sections of the Act. Capitalization, punctuation, spacing, and obvious typographical artifacts from the earlier webpage have been normalized for readability while preserving the substance of the historical text.

Section 1. Mint Established at the Seat of Government

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, and it is hereby enacted and declared, That a mint for the purpose of a national coinage be, and the same is established, to be situate and carried on at the seat of the government of the United States, for the time being; and that for the well conducting of the business of the said mint, there shall be the following officers and persons, namely: a Director, an Assayer, a Chief Coiner, an Engraver, and a Treasurer.

Section 2. Director to Employ Workmen

The Director of the Mint shall employ as many clerks, workmen, and servants as he shall from time to time find necessary, subject to the approbation of the President of the United States.

Section 3. Duties of the Officers

The Director shall have chief management of the Mint and shall superintend its officers and employees. The Assayer shall receive and give receipts for metals lawfully brought to the Mint, assay such metals as necessary, and deliver them to the Chief Coiner. The Chief Coiner shall cause the metals to be coined according to law. The Engraver shall prepare the necessary dies, devices, and inscriptions. The functions of Chief Coiner and Engraver may be performed by one person. The Treasurer shall receive completed coins from the Chief Coiner, deliver them to the persons entitled to receive them, and receive and safely keep monies used for the operation of the Mint.

Section 4. Oath of Office

Every officer and clerk of the Mint shall, before entering upon his duties, take an oath or affirmation before a judge of the United States faithfully and diligently to perform the duties of the office.

Section 5. Bonds

The Assayer, Chief Coiner, and Treasurer shall each give bond to the United States, with appropriate surety satisfactory to the Secretary of the Treasury, in the sum of $10,000, conditioned upon faithful and diligent performance of their duties.

Section 6. Salaries

Office	Annual Salary
Director	$2,000
Assayer	$1,500
Chief Coiner	$1,500
Engraver	$1,200
Treasurer	$1,200
Clerks	Not exceeding $500

Section 7. Accounts and Reports

Mint accounts were to be adjusted and settled by the Treasury Department. Quarterly accounts of receipts and disbursements were required, together with an annual report to Congress concerning the transactions of the Mint and the settlement of its accounts.

Section 8. Buildings for the Mint

The President of the United States was authorized to provide and prepare suitable buildings for carrying on the business of the Mint. Expenses associated with the buildings, equipment, maintenance, and operation of the Mint were to be paid from monies in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

1797 Ten Dollar Gold Eagle

Gold, Silver and Copper Denominations

Section 9. Species of Coins to Be Struck

Section 9 established ten denominations in three metals:

Coin	Value	Metal	Statutory Standard Weight
Eagle	$10	Gold	270 grains standard gold
Half Eagle	$5	Gold	135 grains standard gold
Quarter Eagle	$2.50	Gold	67½ grains standard gold
Dollar or Unit	$1	Silver	416 grains standard silver
Half Dollar	50¢	Silver	208 grains standard silver
Quarter Dollar	25¢	Silver	104 grains standard silver
Disme	10¢	Silver	41⅗ grains standard silver
Half Disme	5¢	Silver	20⅘ grains standard silver
Cent	1¢	Copper	11 pennyweights
Half Cent	½¢	Copper	5½ pennyweights

Early United States Half Disme

The Dollar or Unit

The most consequential language in Section 9 defined the new American dollar:

“DOLLARS OR UNITS” were to be of the value of a Spanish milled dollar then current and to contain 371¼ grains of pure silver, or 416 grains of standard silver.

This established the dollar as the principal unit around which the other denominations were mathematically organized. A Half Dollar equaled one-half of a dollar, a Quarter Dollar one-fourth, a Disme one-tenth, a Half Disme one-twentieth, a Cent one-hundredth, and a Half Cent one two-hundredth.

Coin Designs and Inscriptions

Section 10. Devices Upon the Coins

The Act prescribed the fundamental imagery of the new national coinage.

One side of each coin was to bear an image emblematic of Liberty.
The word LIBERTY was to appear with the year of coinage.
The reverse of each gold and silver coin was to bear an eagle.
The words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA were to appear on the gold and silver coins.
Copper cents and half cents were to state their denomination on the reverse.

The statute therefore established Liberty, rather than the portrait of a sitting President or monarch, as the principal human symbol of the early national coinage.

1796 Silver Dollar Reverse

Section 11. Gold-to-Silver Ratio

Congress fixed the legal proportional value of gold to silver at 15 to 1 by weight of pure metal. Fifteen pounds of pure silver were therefore to have the same legal monetary value as one pound of pure gold.

Section 12. Standard for Gold Coins

The statutory standard for United States gold coins was established at eleven parts pure gold to one part alloy. The alloy could contain silver and copper, subject to regulation by the Director of the Mint with the approval of the President.

Section 13. Standard for Silver Coins

The silver standard was fixed at 1,485 parts pure silver to 179 parts alloy, with the alloy consisting entirely of copper.

Bullion and Free Coinage

Section 14. Gold and Silver Bullion May Be Brought to the Mint

One of the most important provisions of the Act allowed private persons to bring gold or silver bullion to the United States Mint for conversion into coin.

The bullion was to be assayed and coined as speedily as practicable and ordinarily free of expense to the owner. Upon completion, the depositor could receive coin containing the equivalent quantity of pure gold or pure silver.

The Act also permitted an immediate exchange of already minted coins for standard bullion when both the depositor and Mint Director agreed. In that circumstance, the Mint could deduct one-half of one percent as compensation for advancing coin before the depositor’s own bullion had been coined.

The Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to provide funds to facilitate these exchanges when the condition of the Treasury permitted.

Gold and Silver Bullion

Section 15. Order of Coinage and Delivery

Bullion brought to the Mint was to be coined in the order in which it was received. Mint officers were prohibited from giving preference to one depositor over another.

An officer who violated this rule was subject to a penalty of $1,000. The Assayer was required to provide the depositor a written memorandum recording the bullion’s weight, fineness, value, and date and order of delivery.

Section 16. Gold and Silver Coins Made Lawful Tender

The Act declared that gold and silver coins struck and issued by the United States Mint were lawful tender in all payments whatsoever. Full-weight coins passed at their statutory values, while underweight coins were valued proportionally according to their actual weight.

1794 United States Silver Half Dollar

Section 17. Conformity to Standards

Mint officers were required to use their best efforts to ensure that gold and silver coins conformed as closely as possible to the weights and metallic standards prescribed by Congress. Copper used in cents and half cents was required to be of good quality.

Annual Assay and Quality Control

Section 18. Annual Assay

Congress established an unusually direct system of federal oversight over the integrity of the coinage.

From every separate mass of standard gold or silver converted into coins, the Treasurer was required to reserve at least three coins. Once each year, the accumulated samples were to be formally assayed.

The officials designated to supervise the assay included:

the Chief Justice of the United States;
the Secretary of the Treasury;
the Comptroller of the Treasury;
the Secretary of State; and
the Attorney General of the United States.

Any three could conduct the inspection. The Director, Assayer, and Chief Coiner of the Mint were also to be present.

The Act allowed a limited tolerance. If the tested gold or silver was not inferior to the statutory standard by more than one part in 144, the responsible Mint officers were excused. A greater deficiency was to be certified to the President, and the officers concerned were deemed disqualified from holding their offices.

Coinage Act of 1792

Penalties for Debasing the Coinage

Section 19. Fraudulent Debasement or Embezzlement

Section 19 reflects the extraordinary importance Congress placed upon the integrity of the national coinage.

If a Mint officer or employee intentionally caused United States gold or silver coins to contain less precious metal, weight, or value than required by law, or fraudulently embezzled metals entrusted to the Mint or coins produced there, the offense was classified as a felony.

The statute provided that an officer or employee convicted of such fraudulent conduct “shall be deemed guilty of felony, and shall suffer death.”

The severity of this provision demonstrates how closely Congress associated the reliability of the coinage with the financial integrity of the federal government itself.

Section 20. Money of Account

The Act concluded by establishing the decimal accounting system of the United States:

Unit	Relationship
Dollar or Unit	Principal monetary unit
Dime	1/10 of a dollar
Cent	1/100 of a dollar
Mill	1/1000 of a dollar

All accounts in the public offices of the United States and all proceedings in the federal courts were required to conform to this system.

APPROVED, April 2, 1792

Historical Significance

The Coinage Act of 1792 was far more than legislation establishing a federal mint. It supplied the new government with a coherent national monetary architecture.

Among its principal achievements, the Act:

established the United States Mint;
created the offices responsible for operating and supervising the Mint;
established the dollar or unit as the central monetary standard;
linked that dollar to the familiar Spanish milled dollar then circulating;
created a decimal monetary system;
authorized gold, silver, and copper coinage;
established statutory weights and metallic standards;
fixed the legal gold-to-silver ratio at 15 to 1;
prescribed Liberty and the eagle as principal national coinage symbols;
permitted private gold and silver bullion to be converted into federal coinage;
made United States gold and silver coins lawful tender;
established federal quality-control and annual assay procedures; and
required federal accounts and court proceedings to be expressed in the new decimal monetary system.

The statute therefore transformed the dollar from a monetary concept and circulating unit of account into a federally defined unit of United States coinage.

Early United States Coinage

The original CoinAct page followed the statute with an extensive catalogue of United States coin types extending through the nineteenth century. That material is valuable numismatically, but most of it concerns later coinage legislation and later design changes rather than the Coinage Act of 1792 itself.

This revised page concentrates instead upon representative early coins whose denominations were directly authorized by the Act.

Gold Eagle

The Eagle was the highest denomination established by the Act, valued at ten dollars or units. The statutory weight was 270 grains of standard gold.

Early United States Gold Eagle

Half Eagle

The Half Eagle had a face value of five dollars and a statutory weight of 135 grains of standard gold.

1796 United States Half Eagle

Quarter Eagle

The Quarter Eagle was valued at two dollars and fifty cents and contained 67½ grains of standard gold under the original statute.

1796 United States Quarter Eagle

Silver Dollar

The silver Dollar or Unit formed the central denomination of the system. The Act required 371¼ grains of pure silver contained within 416 grains of standard silver.

The early silver dollar expressed the two central visual requirements of the Act: Liberty on the obverse and the American eagle on the reverse.

Half Dollar

The Half Dollar was expressly defined as one-half the value of the Dollar or Unit and originally weighed 208 grains of standard silver.

Quarter Dollar

The Quarter Dollar was one-fourth of a dollar and was authorized at 104 grains of standard silver.

Disme and Half Disme

The Act used the spelling “disme” for the silver coin representing one-tenth of a dollar. The Half Disme represented one-twentieth of a dollar, equivalent to five cents.

Cent and Half Cent

The Cent represented one-hundredth of a dollar and the Half Cent one-half of one cent. Unlike the higher denominations, these coins were made of copper rather than precious metal.

1794 United States Large Cent

A National Monetary System

The enduring significance of the Coinage Act lies in the completeness of the system Congress created. The legislation addressed the institution that would manufacture the coins, the officers who would administer it, the denominations to be struck, the amount of metal in each coin, the relative values of gold and silver, the national imagery displayed upon the coins, the conversion of bullion into coin, lawful-tender status, accounting standards, quality control, and penalties for corruption.

The Act therefore stands among the foundational financial statutes of the government established under the Constitution of 1787.

Its most familiar legacy remains visible every time an American transaction is calculated in dollars, dimes, and cents.

Editorial Note, 2026: This page is a clean reconstruction of the original CoinAct presentation of the Coinage Act of 1792. The earlier page combined the complete statute with an extensive catalogue of United States coinage extending through the nineteenth century. This revision retains the statute, its principal provisions, and representative early coins directly associated with the denominations authorized in 1792, while removing later material that obscured the founding legislation. Historical statutory wording has been lightly normalized for punctuation, capitalization, and obvious transcription artifacts. No substantive statutory provision has intentionally been altered.

Stanley Y. Klos
Independent Scholar and Historian
Historic.us Corporation

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