The Coinage Act of 1873, enacted by the United States Congress in 1873, embraced the gold standard and de-monetized silver. Western mining interests and others who wanted silver in circulation labeled this measure the "Crime of '73". For about five years, gold was the only metallic standard in the United States until passage of the Bland–Allison Act on February 28, 1878, requiring the US Treasury to purchase domestic silver bullion to be minted into legal tender coins co-existent with gold coins. Silver Certificate Series 1878 was issued to join the gold certificates already in circulation.