The things we carry around today are not dollars. They are denominated in dollars. Their value depends upon the ability of the US Government to coerce people to use them. A real dollar (codified by US Law) is a quantity of silver unchanged since 1792. Miners used to bring their silver to a government mint which would stamp the silver into recognizable units in exchange for a small fee known as seignorage. This ended in 1964. The coins minted in that year and before have a value that does not depend upon government coercion. Most coins minted by the government since 1965 have been made to look like the old coins but essentially have no value apart from the government's ability to coerce their use. If you look up counterfeit in any reasonable dictionary, you will see a description of the coins (and bills) we utilize today.
ML/NJ
Thank you very much. I did not know that.
Almost. Between 1873 and 1878, "Trade dollars" of a heavier weight, intended for use in purchasing trade goods from asian nations, were minted by the US, while the subsidiary silver coinage has been minted using less silver (than the definition of a dollar in silver under the 1792 Act) since 1853. During that 6 year period, and any other time silver dollars were not minted (e.g., 1905-20), actual practice supports the view that the legal definition of a dollar was different from the 1792 definition, albeit that definition has not been repealed.
Miners used to bring their silver to a government mint which would stamp the silver into recognizable units in exchange for a small fee known as seignorage. This ended in 1964.
That was, indeed, the original practice; I do not know when it ended. However, starting in 1878, statutes required the purchase of silver bullion to be minted into silver dollars. So our coinage was not limited to what citizens brought to the mint.