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United States of America, Pattern Dollar, 1836, in silver, by C. Gobrecht, seated figure of Liberty right, c.gobrecht.f. on base, rev. eagle flying left, constellation of 26 stars in field, edge plain, 26.92g/6h (Judd 60; Adams & Woodin 42). Practically as struck with deep blue-gold tone, extremely rare (£8,000-10,000)

Preparations to resume the coinage of silver dollars, which had ceased in 1803, were begun soon after the enactment of the Coinage Act of 28 June 1834, because it was anticipated that the fineness of standard silver would be changed along with the weight and composition of gold coins. Dies were executed by Christian Gobrecht from an obverse design of Liberty seated by Thomas Sully, and the reverse design of an eagle in flight by Titian Peale (see Inside Back Cover). When preparing the reverse die, Gobrecht eliminated the arrows and branches from Peale’s drawing, and instead of the 13 stars of equal size arranged in line round the coin’s edge, he placed a constellation of 26 stars, equal to the number of states, dotted around the sky behind the eagle. The story goes that the Mint director, Dr Robert Maskell Patterson, was so impressed with the workmanship of the dies that he insisted that Gobrecht should have his name on the coin, although the prominent position his signature occupied above the date on the first of the new dollars led to criticism and a re-positioning to the base rock. This coin was struck on 31 December 1836.

See Inside Front Cover