Currency of Venezuela copper centavos dated 1852 were minted at Birmingham and London. Birmingham Mint Ltd.: Royal Mint, London: Venezolano (Peso) = 10 Reales = 100 Centavos Conversion: 1 venezolano = 5 francos A new monetary law, April 1, 1854, provided for a mint in Caracas to produce a national coinage based on both gold and silver. The gold coins would be: onza, media onza, doblón (1/4 onza), escudo (1/8 onza), and venezolano de oro (1/16 onza or peso de oro). Silver coins were: peso fuerte or venezolano de plata, medio peso, peseta (1/4 peso), real (1/8 peso), and medio real (1/16 peso).
Free silver standard which had been the hallmark of the Cleveland administration to the free-silver position epitomized by 1896 presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan in his Cross of Gold speech. Bryan's 1896 candidacy was supported by Populists and "silver Republicans" as well as by most Democrats. The issue was over what would back the US currency. The two options were: "gold" (wanted by the Goldbugs and William McKinley) and "silver" (wanted by the Silverites and Bryan). Unbacked "paper" (wanted by the Greenbacks) represented a third option. A fourth option, currency backed by "land value", was advocated by Senator Leland Stanford through several