This is incorrect. Dollars have always been silver. The word dollar is used twice in the Constitution without any sort of definition because everyone then knew what it meant. (Just as everyone knew what year meant.) Gold is (or was when it was coined) denominated in eagles which were worth Ten Dollars each. The amount of gold in an eagle has varied. The amount of silver in a dollar has not varied.
ML/NJ
I’m being called on symantics here.
I will reword. But it has nothing to do with my point.
A dollar was a VALUE. I don’t care if it was gold or eagle or a shoe.
It was a value, not a noun.
Now the value depends on the shorters.
Thalers (from which dollar was derived) have indeed been minted from silver for hundreds of years. Indeed, AFAIK the Austrian mint still mints Maria Theresa thalers bearing the date 1780; each containing 0.7514 oz. of silver. IIRC, these were the operating currency in Oman until the 1950s.
Excepting the trade dollars discussed above, the US silver dollar has always been minted with 0.7736 or 0.7737 oz. of silver. This amount was determined by Thomas Jefferson, who examined, weighed, and then calculated the average weight of Spanish dollars in use (I assume in Philadelphia) while he was Secretary of State.
The Spanish dollar = the Mexican eight reales minted in Mexico by the Spanish. ("Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar -- a bit was an eighth of an eight reales coin; two bits is a "quarter" and four bits a "half"). These coins contained 0.7797 oz of silver when minted by the Spanish.
Gold is (or was when it was coined) denominated in eagles which were worth Ten Dollars each.
I trust you know that the US minted a "gold dollar" from 1849-1889. Not a "tenth eagle," a gold dollar.
However, in general, your remarks are correct.