The idea for the American silver dollar came from a Spanish coin that was made from almost an ounce of silver. The American colonists called it the Spanish dollar and the silver coin became quite popular.
The first US silver dollars were minted in 1794, after the US Congress voted to use the dollar as the primary national currency. It was used alongside the Spanish dollar even after the Revolutionary War. The US Mint created silver dollars until 1803 and then stopped making them until 1836, the period of the American Old West.
The people of the Old West preferred the silver dollar to paper bills as they felt that the coins had more value because they were made of silver. In fact, silver dollars were one of the leading forms of currency in the mid to late 1800s, second only to gold.
The silver dollar was extremely important to the people of the American West. For those who liked to visit saloons, it meant having a fair exchange for a drink rather than an unspecified pinch of gold from the bartender. It was prized by gamblers and riverboat travelers, as well as those buying goods at the local market, for the same reason.
The common people were not the only ones to carry the silver dollar. Many of the most recognizable names in the Old West used them as well. Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Geronimo were known to carry silver dollars.
In the Old West, the silver dollar was worth much more than a dollar is worth today. People were able to buy a pair of loafers for $1.00. Compare that to what you pay for a pair of shoes today and those loafers look like a bargain! His dollar would also allow him to buy 50 pounds of flour, 10 quarts of milk, 60 pounds of potatoes, two pounds of sugar, or five pounds of butter.