Grant H. Smith The History of the Comstock Lode 1850-1920, Geology and Mining Series No. 37, University of Nevada Bulletin: Reno, Nevada, vol. XXXVII. 1 July 1943, no. 3, (revised 1966), Ninth printing, 1980. 305 pp., 1873, 1850s, 1850
[p. 137] Chapter XVI The Crown Point-Belcher Bonanza-The Gold to Silver Ratio-The Silver Question.
[p. 142] The Silver Question
[p. 142] "The great flow of gold from California in 1849 and 1850 alarmed the bankers of Europe. Holland and Belgium, in 1850, began to sell their gold and stock up with silver. Other nations followed, especially after the great gold discoveries in Australia, beginning in 1851, and silver rose in price throughout the world. The countries of Europe, with the exception of Great Britain and France, were practically on a silver basis until 1871 when [p. 143] Germany adopted the gold standard after receiving a large amount of gold from France in payment of the war indemnity. Japan and the United States demonetized silver in 1873, and Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France and Holland soon followed. All of those countries threw quantities of silver upon the market, with a resultant decline in price.