Further public agitation for silver use was driven by fear that there was not enough money in the community. Prompted by a sharp decline in the value of silver in 1876, Congressional representatives from Nevada and Colorado, states responsible for over 40% of the world's silver yield in the 1870s and 1880s, began lobbying for change. People began to refer to the passage of the Act as the Crime of '73. By 1875 business interests invested in silver (e.g., Western banks, mining companies) wanted the bimetallic standard restored. While the Coinage Act of 1873 stopped production of silver dollars, it was the 1874 adoption of Section 3568 of the Revised Statutes that actually removed legal tender status from silver certificates in the payment of debts exceeding five dollars. The Coinage Act of 1873 intentionally omitted language authorizing the coinage of “standard” silver dollars and ended the bimetallic standard that had been created by Alexander Hamilton. The complete type set below is part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The small-size silver certificate (1928–1964) was only regularly issued in denominations of $1, $5, and $10. In 1928, all United States bank notes were re-designed and the size reduced.

Large-size silver certificates (1878 to 1923) were issued initially in denominations from $10 to $1,000 (in 18) and in 1886 the $1, $2, and $5 were authorized. Since 1968 they have been redeemable only in Federal Reserve Notes and are thus obsolete, but still valid legal tender at their face value and thus are still an accepted form of currency. The certificates were initially redeemable for their face value of silver dollar coins and later (for one year from June 24, 1967, to June 24, 1968) in raw silver bullion. They were produced in response to silver agitation by citizens who were angered by the Fourth Coinage Act, which had effectively placed the United States on a gold standard. Silver certificates are a type of representative money issued between 18 in the United States as part of its circulation of paper currency. $5 Series 1899 silver certificate depicting Running Antelope of the Húŋkpapȟa.

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