Coin's Financial School

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COIN'S FINANCIAL SCHOOL

COIN'S FINANCIAL SCHOOL. Written by W. H. ("Coin") Harvey in 1894 to generate support for bimetallism among people suffering from the prevailing hard times. The book showed prominent bankers, editors, and other gold monometallists as asking and taking instruction from "Coin, the smooth little financier." Through graphic illustrations, homily allusions, glib arguments, and the use of prominent names, the narrative obtained wide credence as a portrayal of actual occurrences. Printed in cheap paper editions, it circulated very widely among farmers, debtors, and other distressed classes, preparing many minds to receive William Jennings Bryan's free-silver arguments.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Nichols, Jeannette. "Bryan's Benefactor: Coin Harvey and His World." Ohio Historical Quarterly 67, no. 4 (1958): 299–325.

Riter, Gretchen. Goldbugs and Greenbacks: The Antimonopoly Tradition and the Politics of Finance in America. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Jeannette P.Nichols/c. p.

See alsoBimetallism ; Crime of 1873 ; Financial Panics ; Free Silver ; Pamphleteering ; Populism .