Executive Order 11110
Executive Order 11110 was issued by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on June 4, 1963.
This executive order amended Executive Order 10289 (dated September 17, 1951)[1] by delegating to the Secretary of the Treasury the president's authority to issue silver certificates under the Thomas Amendment of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, as amended by the Gold Reserve Act. The order allowed the Secretary to issue silver certificates, if any were needed, during the transition period under President Kennedy's plan to eliminate Silver Certificates and use Federal Reserve Notes.[2]
Public Law 88-36[edit]
The House of Representatives took up the president's request early in 1963,[6] and passed HR 5389 on April 10, 1963, by a vote of 251 to 122.[7][8] The Senate passed the bill on May 23, by a vote of 68 to 10.[9][10]
Kennedy signed the bill into law on June 4, 1963, and on the same day signed an executive order (11110) authorizing the Treasury Secretary to continue printing silver certificates during the transition
period.[11][12] The act, which became Public Law 88-36 (77 Stat. 54), repealed the Silver Purchase Act of 1934 and related laws, repealed a tax on silver transfers, and authorized the Federal Reserve to issue one- and two-dollar bills, in addition to the notes they were already issuing.[13] The Silver Purchase Act had authorized and required the Secretary of the Treasury to buy silver and issue silver certificates. With its repeal, the President needed to delegate to the Treasury Secretary the President's own authority under the Agricultural Adjustment Act.[14]
Revocation[edit]
In March 1964, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon halted redemption of silver certificates for silver dollars.
On June 24, 1968, all redemption in silver ceased.
In the 1970s, large numbers of the remaining silver dollars in the mint vaults were sold to the collecting public for collector value.
In 1982, Congress repealed the remaining legislative authority behind E.O. 11110 with the passage of Pub. L. 97–258.
On September 9, 1987, as part of a general clean-up of executive orders, President Ronald Reagan issued Executive Order 12608, which removed the text which had been added to E.O. 10289 by E.O. 11110. Specifically, E.O. 12608 revoked subparagraph (j) of paragraph 1 of E.O. 10289, as amended by E.O. 11110.[16]
Although E.O. 12608 explicitly revoked the relevant portion of E.O. 10289 which had been added by E.O. 11110, thereby effectively revoking E.O. 11110 as such, the original legislative authority underpinning the order had, of course, already been nullified five years earlier, back in 1982.