Postage stamps and postal history of Mexico The regency had previously changed the official currency under which one peso equaled 8 reales to a decimal system in which one peso equaled 100 centavos. In making the conversion postal rates were rounded up, for example, the rate of one real being equal to 12.5 centavos was rounded up to 13 centavos. The stamps, as a result, were issued in values of 7c, 13c, 25c, and 50c. These stamps were issued with the year and invoice number and with or without the district name, but some issued in exchange for Eagle stamps were issued only with the Mexico City
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