The final nail in the coffin that opened the fiat money floodgates was when President Nixon ended the U.S. Dollar's convertibility into Gold in August 1971.
-NW

Silver Coins: Memories Of Sound Money
Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times
Posted on ZeroHedge
Dec 30, 2025

[snip]

The year was 1965, the great turning point. The last 90 percent silver circulating coins (dimes, quarters, half-dollars) were dated 1964, and everyday “silver coinage” ended with that date for most denominations.

How significant was this? It was huge.

Silver coins were about real money in the hands of real people, not bankers and not politicians. They were a guarantor of freedom, one even mentioned in the U.S. Constitution “No State shall... coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts,” says Article I, Section 10, Clause 1.

The Founders knew the meaning of sound money, and made it a mandatory matter that any state that is part of the great union had to adhere to the silver standard. Much later, all money and coinage power were transferred to the federal government, making the point mute. But then of course the federal government made an enormous error.

Why did this happen? Lyndon Johnson had taken over the Presidency after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Kennedy had hoped to impose a nationwide silver standard as a means of restraining the central bank. After he was killed, the goal was sidelined.

The money in our pockets was wrecked. From being made of the real deal, they all eventually became what is known as “baloney sandwich” coins—nothing but tokens.

The rest of the world followed. Why? There is really only one reason. Governments, banks, and corporate finance did not like the restraints imposed by precious metals. It was seen as too costly and restrictive whereas coining mere symbols seemed to be a savings.

There was a welfare state to create and fund, plus a big war building in Southeast Asia. In such times, governments need resources that hard money simply does not allow.