The Coinage Act of 1965 - Remarks from President Lyndon B. Johnson [July 22, 1965]

"Now, all of you know these changes are necessary for a very simple reason--silver is a scarce material. Our uses of silver are growing as our population and our economy grows. The hard fact is that silver consumption is now more than double new silver production each year. So, in the face of this worldwide shortage of silver, and our rapidly growing need for coins, the only really prudent course was to reduce our dependence upon silver for making our coins."

"If we had not done so, we would have risked chronic coin shortages in the very near future."