One topic of discussion was the bill's requirement that an eagle appear on larger U.S. coins. Linderman had requested an amendment to require that gold and silver coins bear a statement of their weight and fineness, which would mean sacrificing the eagle. California's Eugene Casserly opposed the amendment, which was sponsored by Sherman, stating "it will hardly be possible to think of a half dollar or a quarter dollar as being such a coin without the eagle upon it". The eagle was saved when the amendment failed, 24 in favor and 26 against. Casserly was less successful with an amendment to remove entirely the reduced coinage charge of .2 percent, which failed. Sherman moved the bill along as quickly as he could, and it passed without a recorded vote. The House initially refused to agree to the Trade dollar; representatives of both houses, led by Sherman and Potter, met in a conference committee, and the House acceded to the Senate amendment for the Trade dollar. The bill passed both houses without further debate, and was signed by President Ulysses S. Grant on February 12, 1873. At no point in its almost three-year journey through the legislative process did the bill provide for the retention of the standard silver dollar, into which depositors could have their bullion coined.