Gobrecht dollar

A Class I 1804 dollar

The first silver dollars struck by the United States Mint were minted in 1794. In 1804, the Mint unofficially ended production of silver dollars because many of the coins produced since that denomination had first been struck in 1794 were exported for their silver content to Eastern Asia, especially Canton (modern day Guangzhou).[1] In 1806, then Secretary of State James Madison issued an order officially halting mintage of the coins.[2] In 1831, Mint Director Samuel Moore noticed a reversal; a large shipment of Spanish dollars had recently been shipped from Canton to the United States. Later that year, President Andrew Jackson, at Moore's request, lifted the prohibition.[3]

No further action was taken until the summer of 1834, when officials suggested that proof coin sets be prepared as gifts for Asian dignitaries.[4] After examining Mint records, personnel incorrectly concluded that the last Draped Bust dollars minted were dated 1804, so they chose that date for the coins.[4] It is unknown why the current date was not used, but numismatic historian R.W. Julian suggests the coins were predated to prevent coin collectors from becoming angered when they would be unable to obtain the newly dated coins, which were struck in very small numbers.[2] It is unknown precisely how many 1804 dollars were struck, though eight are known to be extant.[4]

Christian Gobrecht engraved both sides of the dollar named for him.

Later, in 1835, Mint officials began preparations for a series of silver dollars which, unlike the 1804 dollar, were intended to enter circulation in order to determine whether the denomination would be well received by the public. In June 1835, Moore resigned his post as director, and was replaced by Robert M. Patterson.[5] Shortly thereafter, Director Patterson approached two well-known Philadelphia artists, Titian Peale and Thomas Sully, to create a design that would be used to overhaul most of the American coins then in production.[6] Mint Chief Engraver Kneass prepared a sketch based on Patterson's conception, but soon suffered a stroke, leaving him partially incapacitated.[7] Following Kneass' stroke, government officials approved Patterson's urgent request that Philadelphia medallist Christian Gobrecht be hired immediately to fulfill the duties of engraver; Director Moore requested the same prior to his resignation, but no action was taken immediately.[5]

Thomas Sully created a depiction of Liberty seated that would form the basis for the obverse of the Gobrecht dollar.

In a letter dated August 1, 1835, Patterson proposed that Sully create a Seated Liberty figure for the obverse, suggesting that the "figure be in a sitting posture—sitting, for example, on a rock."[8] Patterson also suggested that the seated figure should hold in her right hand a pileus atop a liberty pole to be "emblematic of Liberty".[8] Numismatic historian Don Taxay notes the similarity between Patterson's Seated Liberty concept and designs already in use on British copper coinage: "Liberty thus emerged as a refurbished Britannia, her trident replaced by a staff and pileus."[7] In the same letter, Patterson also informed Sully of his vision for the reverse, which Peale would execute: "I propose an Eagle flying, and rising in flight, amidst a constellation, irregularly dispersed, of 24 stars [representing the number of states then forming the Union], and carrying in its claws a scroll with the words E PLURIBUS UNUM".[6] Patterson preferred a soaring eagle because he believed that the heraldic eagle commonly used on American coins, which he dismissed as a "mere creature of imagination",[6] was unappealing as a design. According to a common story, the flying eagle seen on the Gobrecht dollar was modeled after Peter, the Mint's pet eagle, who was taxidermied after his death by becoming caught in a coining press and remains on display at the Mint to this day.[9]

In September 1835, Thomas Sully received from Patterson a set of British coins and medals to help guide him while creating the Seated Liberty design.[10] Sully sent Patterson three rough sketches near the beginning of October, and those were given to Gobrecht, who in turn set about making a copper engraving of the design. Gobrecht completed the engraving on October 14, and Patterson presented prints created from it to several government officials in an effort to gain their approval. President Jackson, Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury, and the rest of the cabinet all approved of the design.[10] On October 17, while Jackson and his cabinet were reviewing the design, Woodbury wrote Patterson giving permission to proceed with creating dies for the new coins based on the prints.[10] In January 1836, die trials were conducted in soft metal. These pieces were then circulated among the public for suggestions.[11] Patterson then authorized production of a steel obverse die; the reverse could not yet be created because Peale had yet to complete his design to Patterson's satisfaction.[11] While Peale continued his work, Gobrecht began work on a design for a gold dollar, which occupied much of his time at the Mint. On April 9, Patterson wrote a letter to the Treasury secretary in which he included several of Peale's drawings; Patterson viewed one of the designs as the best created to date.[11] Despite the director's approval of the design, he instructed Peale to continue until Patterson was satisfied.[12] This was evidently achieved, because Patterson had Gobrecht to begin work on a reverse die in June.[12] In August, Patterson sent a uniface striking of the reverse die to President Jackson, who approved designs for both sides of the coin[12]

James Ross Snowden created restrikes of rare coins.

Following an increase in coin collecting among the public in the mid-nineteenth century, there arose considerable demand for older American coins. Mint Director James Ross Snowden began selling restrikes of Gobrecht dollars and trading them for rare medals (especially those depicting or relating to former President George Washington), which were then added to the Mint's coin collection, then known as a coin cabinet.[19] The money generated from selling the restrikes went toward purchasing new items for the coin cabinet.[19] The restrikes created under Snowden's tenure were likely struck in 1859 and 1860, but the practice was largely halted after the eruption of a public scandal; other Mint employees were creating and selling restrikes of early American coins for their own profit.[19] All Gobrecht dollar restrikes, when tilted on their axis, depict the reverse eagle flying level, rather than upward as it is depicted on the coins struck during the official production run.[22] It is unknown precisely why the orientation of the eagle was altered, though it is believed by many numismatists that Snowden did this intentionally to make restrikes distinguishable from originals.[22] Numismatic historian Walter Breen suggests that Snowden simply used the alignment because that was the same used on the Flying Eagle cent,[22] which began production in 1856.[23] Mint Engraver James B. Longacre, its designer, had borrowed Gobrecht and Peale's eagle reverse for the one-cent coin's obverse.[24]