U.S. Heritage Coins

The Gobrecht Dollar is an interesting piece of American coinage history. When Robert M. Patterson was named the sixth Director of the US Mint in may of 1835, one of his first decisions was the hiring of Christian Gobrecht for the job of Second Engraver. Patterson also brought Thomas Sully and Titian Peale on board to do some sketch work for the new silver dollar coin. Gobrecht created a completely original, unique coin by combining the ideas provided to him by Sully and Peale with some ideas of his own, reworking them and trying different things until he was happy, and then transforming the resultant design into a metal form. In October that year, the new dollar was shown to Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury and President Andrew Jackson, and they were quite pleased with the results, allowing the project to move forward. However, the final design would still take some months to perfect. The final image shows Lady Liberty seated on a boulder, a distinct difference from the typical profile and bust views of Liberty. In her right hand she holds a Union Shield, and in her left, she holds pole with a Liberty Cap stuck on the end. This was a statement of American freedom. The reverse shows a gorgeous image of an eagle ascending into the sky. This image was meant to represent optimism in the still-somewhat-young Nation’s future. The first Gobrecht Silver Dollar patterns were coined in 1836, with about eighteen or so being distributed to certain locations in Philadelphia in order to test them out and gauge public reaction. Director Patterson had instructed Gobrecht to sign his name below the base on these first examples, drawing harsh criticism from the local Philadelphia newspaper. He then relocated the name in tiny letters, affixing it to the base of Liberty. After this small change, the public took fondly to the coin. In the first year, about one thousand Gobrecht coins were minted, and another six hundred in 1837. Two dozen more were minted in 1838, but were considered to be simply proofs. In 1839, only three hundred Gobrecht Dollars were minted. All Gobrecht Silver Dollars were struck with a proof finish, including those intended for circulation. These dollars are extremely, extremely rare. To be completely honest, most collectors simply do not have the means to obtain such a coin. Proof-65 examples will sell for about one hundred thousand dollars, while even the most common, the 1836 “C. GOBRECHT F.” variety is still almost impossible to come by. If you do luck out and land an 1836, it does have a high resell value, with the price often doubling between auction.