Professor Laughlin brings out very strongly that even in such action Hamilton shows no trace of the modern conception of bimetallism, that his report expresses an emphatic preference for gold over silver, and that his object in adopting bimetallism was, while retaining silver, to leave a door open, if possible, for the introduction of gold.—History of Bimetallism in the United States, pp. 13, 14.

By the law of 1837 the alloy for both gold and silver coins was fixed at 1⁄10. The pure gold in the eagle, which by the Act of 1834 was fixed at 232 grs. (258 grs. gross for the piece), was thereby changed to 232.2 grs. At the same time the pure metal content of the silver dollar was maintained at 371 1⁄4 grs., the (gross) weight per piece being changed to 412 1⁄2 grs.

See the case more fully established in Laughlin's Bimetallism in the United States, pp. 29, 57.