<P> The discovery of large silver deposits in the Western United States in the late 19th century created a political controversy . Due to the large influx of silver , the value of silver in the nation 's coinage dropped precipitously . On one side were agrarian interests such as the United States Greenback Party that wanted to retain the bimetallic standard in order to inflate the dollar , which would allow farmers to more easily repay their debts . On the other side were Eastern banking and commercial interests , who advocated sound money and a switch to the gold standard . This issue split the Democratic Party in 1896 . It led to the famous `` cross of gold '' speech given by William Jennings Bryan , and may have inspired many of the themes in The Wizard of Oz . Despite the controversy , the status of silver was slowly diminished through a series of legislative changes from 1873 to 1900 , when a gold standard was formally adopted . The gold standard survived , with several modifications , until 1971 . </P>
<P> The discovery of large silver deposits in the Western United States in the late 19th century created a political controversy . Due to the large influx of silver , the value of silver in the nation 's coinage dropped precipitously . On one side were agrarian interests such as the United States Greenback Party that wanted to retain the bimetallic standard in order to inflate the dollar , which would allow farmers to more easily repay their debts . On the other side were Eastern banking and commercial interests , who advocated sound money and a switch to the gold standard . This issue split the Democratic Party in 1896 . It led to the famous `` cross of gold '' speech given by William Jennings Bryan , and may have inspired many of the themes in The Wizard of Oz . Despite the controversy , the status of silver was slowly diminished through a series of legislative changes from 1873 to 1900 , when a gold standard was formally adopted . The gold standard survived , with several modifications , until 1971 . </P>
when did the us currency stop being backed by gold
when did the us currency stop being backed by gold
1971
1971