 Farmers also wanted to adopt the bimetallic standard because they could sell their crops at higher prices.The Sherman Silver Purchase of 1890 allowed limited use of silver in the American economy, but did not allow unlimited coinage as supporters of the “Free Silver” movement wanted.The Silver Purchase did not work as most of the backers had intended, as a large portion of the buyers redeemed their coins with gold, causing the already pressured American gold reserves to deplete.