In effect, the circulating medium was composed of government securities reduced to handy bits.

Usually, a bank panic tends to bring note issues into rapid circulation for what they will fetch, but in this new situation, people preferred to impound the notes, which they knew to be good whatever happened so long as the Government held out.

Private hoarding became so general that currency tended to disappear.

Between September 30, 1892 and October 31, 1893, the amount of deposits in the national banks shrank over $496,000,000.

Trade was reduced to making use of the methods of primitive barter, though the emergency was met to some extent by the use of checks and clearinghouse certificates.