In passing the Coinage Act, Congress eliminated bimetallism.[8] During the economic chaos of the Panic of 1873, the price of silver dropped significantly, but the Mint would accept none for striking into legal tender. Silver producers complained, and many Americans came to believe that only through bimetallism could the nation achieve and maintain prosperity. They called for the return to pre-1873 laws, which would require the Mint to take all the silver offered it and return it, struck into silver dollars.[7] This would inflate the money supply, and, adherents argued, increase the nation's prosperity.