In 1851, under severe competitive pressure, the U.S. postal service lowered the postage on a one-page letter from 5 cents to 3 cents. The act changed the character of American money.
This Commentary tells how a confluence of two events, the expansion of steam-powered transportation and the California gold rush, created a problem of "monetary indivisibility" for the U.S. post office, the solution to which was the minting of a 3-cent silver coin, the trime. Besides being the ...