Gobrecht Dollar
Encyclopedia
The Gobrecht dollar, minted from 1836 to 1839, was the first silver dollar struck for circulation by the United States Mint
since production of that denomination was officially halted in 1806. The coin was struck in small numbers to determine whether the reintroduced silver dollar would be well-received by the public.
In 1835, Director of the United States Mint
Samuel Moore
resigned his post, and Robert M. Patterson
assumed the position. Shortly after, Patterson began an attempt to redesign the nation's coinage. Following a stroke suffered by Chief Engraver William Kneass
later that year, Christian Gobrecht
was hired as an engraver. On August 1, Patterson wrote a letter to Philadelphia artist Thomas Sully
laying out his plans for the dollar coin. He also asked Titian Peale
to create a design for the coin. Sully created an obverse design depicting a seated representation of Liberty
and Peale a reverse depicting a soaring bald eagle
. After the designs were created and trials
struck, production of the working dies
began in September 1836.
After a small quantity was struck for circulation, the Mint received complaints regarding the prominent placement of Gobrecht's name on the dollar, and the design was modified to incorporate his name in a less conspicuous position. In January 1837, the legal standard for the percentage of precious metal in silver coins was changed from 89.2% to 90%, and the Gobrecht dollars struck after that point reflect this change. In total, 1,900 Gobrecht dollars were struck during the official production run. Production of the Seated Liberty dollar
, which utilized the same obverse design as the Gobrecht dollar, began mintage in 1840. In the mid-nineteenth century, Mint officials began restriking the coins without authorization, causing a public controversy.
unofficially ended production of silver dollars because many of the coins produced since that denomination had first been struck in 1794 were exported to Eastern Asia, especially Canton
(modern day Guangzhou), for their silver content. In 1806, then Secretary of State
James Madison
issued an order officially halting mintage of the coins. In 1831, Mint Director
Samuel Moore
noticed a reversal; a large shipment of Spanish dollar
s had recently been shipped from Canton to the United States. Later that year, Moore requested President Andrew Jackson
via the Treasury to lift the prohibition on dollar coin production. The Treasury responded on April 18 that Jackson had approved the request.
No action was taken until the summer of 1834, when officials suggested that proof coin sets be prepared as gifts for Asian dignitaries. 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. It is unknown why the current date was not used, but numismatic historian R.W. Julian suggests the coins were postdated 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. It is unknown precisely how many 1804 dollars were struck, though eight are known extant.
to assume the position. 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. Mint Chief Engraver Kneass prepared a sketch based on Patterson's conception, but soon suffered a stroke, leaving him partially incapacitated. Following Kneass' stroke, government officials approved Patterson's urgent request that 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 until after Kneass' stroke.
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." Patterson also suggested that the seated figure should hold in her right hand a pileus
atop a pole to be "emblematic of Liberty". 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." 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 admitted to the Union], and carrying in its claws a scroll with the words E PLURIBUS UNUM". 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", 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 view at the Mint to this day.
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. 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. 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. In January 1836, die trials were conducted in soft metal. These pieces were then circulated among the public for suggestions. 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. While Peale continued his work, Gobrecht was ordered to begin work on a new 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. Despite the director's approval of the design, he instructed Peale to continue until Patterson was satisfied. This was evidently achieved, because Patterson ordered Gobrecht to begin work on a reverse die in June. In August, Patterson sent a uniface striking of the reverse die to President Jackson, who approved designs for both sides of the coin.
began sinking the working dies that would be used to strike the coins. However, before production could begin, Patterson ordered that Gobrecht's name be added to the dollar. His name appeared as "C. GOBRECHT F", meaning "Christian Gobrecht Fecit", or "Christian Gobrecht made it". The Gobrecht dollar was first struck in December 1836. Several pieces were produced and distributed throughout Philadelphia. Despite a positive reception for the overall design, many criticized the prominent display of Gobrecht's name on the coin. Gobrecht requested that his name be removed entirely from the face of the coin; instead, the engraver was instructed to change its size and placement at the behest of Patterson.
When the full-scale production began, the reverse eagle was surrounded by 26 stars rather than 24 as Patterson had originally requested of Sully, as the states of Arkansas
and Michigan
had been admitted to the Union since Patterson's letter was penned in 1835. Some of the Gobrecht dollars produced were struck with 'medal alignment', meaning that the obverse and reverse images both face upward when the coin is rotated. For the 1837 production (which kept the 1836 date), Patterson ordered that the coins be struck in coin alignment, the opposite of medal alignment. An act of January 18, 1837, officially changed the legal standard for silver coins from 89.2% to 90% silver. Numismatic historian Walter Breen asserts that those pieces struck before the passage of this act are technically patterns (or coins created to test their design, composition or other points), as they were not authorized by Congress. In total, 1,000 pieces dated 1836 were struck in 89.2% silver and 600 in 90% silver. Gobrecht dollars struck prior to passage of the act weighed 26.96 gram (0.950986018353818 oz), while those struck later weighed 26.73 gram (0.942873007069643 oz).
Persistent public demand for the new coins prompted Woodbury to contact Patterson, requesting more silver dollars. In 1838, the design was modified to remove the stars from the reverse. In 1838 and throughout the production run, a number of different Gobrecht dollar patterns, which differed from the general issues, were struck. A small number were struck bearing the date of 1838 that did not bear Gobrecht's initials in any form. In total, 300 1839 dollars of this type were struck for circulation, all in medal alignment. Patterson's trial issue had evidently been a success, as full-scale production of the Seated Liberty dollar
began in 1840. The Seated Liberty dollar utilized the same obverse design as the Gobrecht dollar, though the reverse was altered from a soaring to a heraldic eagle.
began selling and trading restrikes of Gobrecht dollars 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. The money generated from selling the restrikes went toward purchasing new items for the coin cabinet. 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; some Mint employees were creating and selling restrikes of early American coins for their own profit. 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. 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. Numismatic historian Walter Breen suggests that Snowden simply used the alignment because that was the same used on the Flying Eagle cent
, which began production in 1856. Mint Engraver James B. Longacre, its designer, had borrowed Gobrecht and Peale's eagle reverse for the one cent coin's obverse.
United States Mint
The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...
since production of that denomination was officially halted in 1806. The coin was struck in small numbers to determine whether the reintroduced silver dollar would be well-received by the public.
In 1835, Director of the United States Mint
Director of the United States Mint
The Director of the United States Mint is the head of the United States Mint. The position is currently vacant following the resignation of Edmund C. Moy in January 2011....
Samuel Moore
Samuel Moore (congressman)
Samuel Moore was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Samuel Moore was born in Deerfield, New Jersey . He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1791 then worked as an instructor at the university from 1792 to 1794...
resigned his post, and Robert M. Patterson
Robert M. Patterson
Robert Maskell Patterson was a professor of mathematics, chemistry and natural philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania and professor of natural philosophy at the University of Virginia before serving as director of the US Mint from 1835 to 1851...
assumed the position. Shortly after, Patterson began an attempt to redesign the nation's coinage. Following a stroke suffered by Chief Engraver William Kneass
William Kneass
William Kneass was the second Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1824 until his death in 1840. Kneass designed the Classic Head motif which appeared on Quarter Eagle and Half Eagle gold pieces from 1834-1839. He also modified John Reich's Capped Bust design on the dime through...
later that year, Christian Gobrecht
Christian Gobrecht
Christian Gobrecht was the third Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1835 until his death in 1844. He was responsible for designing the famous "Seated Liberty" designs, which were in turn the direct inspiration for the design of the Trade Dollar...
was hired as an engraver. On August 1, Patterson wrote a letter to Philadelphia artist Thomas Sully
Thomas Sully
Thomas Sully was an American painter, mostly of portraits.-Early life:Sully was born in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England, to the actors Matthew and Sarah Sully. In March 1792 the Sullys and their nine children immigrated to Richmond, Virginia, where Thomas’s uncle managed a theater...
laying out his plans for the dollar coin. He also asked Titian Peale
Titian Peale
Titian Ramsay Peale was a noted American artist, naturalist, entomologist and photographer. He was the sixteenth child and youngest son of noted American naturalist Charles Willson Peale.-Biography:...
to create a design for the coin. Sully created an obverse design depicting a seated representation of Liberty
Liberty (goddess)
Goddesses named for and representing the concept Liberty have existed in many cultures, including classical examples dating from the Roman Empire and some national symbols such as the British "Britannia" or the Irish "Kathleen Ni Houlihan"....
and Peale a reverse depicting a soaring bald eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
. After the designs were created and trials
Pattern coin
A pattern coin is a coin which has not been approved for release, produced for the purpose of evaluating a proposed coin design. They are often off-metal strikes, to proof standard or piedforts...
struck, production of the working dies
Die (manufacturing)
A die is a specialized tool used in manufacturing industries to cut or shape material using a press. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create...
began in September 1836.
After a small quantity was struck for circulation, the Mint received complaints regarding the prominent placement of Gobrecht's name on the dollar, and the design was modified to incorporate his name in a less conspicuous position. In January 1837, the legal standard for the percentage of precious metal in silver coins was changed from 89.2% to 90%, and the Gobrecht dollars struck after that point reflect this change. In total, 1,900 Gobrecht dollars were struck during the official production run. Production of the Seated Liberty dollar
Seated Liberty dollar
The Seated Liberty dollar was the last silver dollar struck before passage of the Coinage Act of 1873, which officially ended production of that denomination...
, which utilized the same obverse design as the Gobrecht dollar, began mintage in 1840. In the mid-nineteenth century, Mint officials began restriking the coins without authorization, causing a public controversy.
1804 dollar
In 1804, the United States MintUnited States Mint
The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...
unofficially ended production of silver dollars because many of the coins produced since that denomination had first been struck in 1794 were exported to Eastern Asia, especially Canton
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
(modern day Guangzhou), for their silver content. In 1806, then Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
issued an order officially halting mintage of the coins. In 1831, Mint Director
Director of the United States Mint
The Director of the United States Mint is the head of the United States Mint. The position is currently vacant following the resignation of Edmund C. Moy in January 2011....
Samuel Moore
Samuel Moore (congressman)
Samuel Moore was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Samuel Moore was born in Deerfield, New Jersey . He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1791 then worked as an instructor at the university from 1792 to 1794...
noticed a reversal; a large shipment of Spanish dollar
Spanish dollar
The Spanish dollar is a silver coin, of approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. Its purpose was to correspond to the German thaler...
s had recently been shipped from Canton to the United States. Later that year, Moore requested President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
via the Treasury to lift the prohibition on dollar coin production. The Treasury responded on April 18 that Jackson had approved the request.
No action was taken until the summer of 1834, when officials suggested that proof coin sets be prepared as gifts for Asian dignitaries. 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. It is unknown why the current date was not used, but numismatic historian R.W. Julian suggests the coins were postdated 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. It is unknown precisely how many 1804 dollars were struck, though eight are known extant.
Design
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, allowing Robert M. PattersonRobert M. Patterson
Robert Maskell Patterson was a professor of mathematics, chemistry and natural philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania and professor of natural philosophy at the University of Virginia before serving as director of the US Mint from 1835 to 1851...
to assume the position. Shortly thereafter, Director Patterson approached two well-known Philadelphia artists, Titian Peale
Titian Peale
Titian Ramsay Peale was a noted American artist, naturalist, entomologist and photographer. He was the sixteenth child and youngest son of noted American naturalist Charles Willson Peale.-Biography:...
and Thomas Sully
Thomas Sully
Thomas Sully was an American painter, mostly of portraits.-Early life:Sully was born in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England, to the actors Matthew and Sarah Sully. In March 1792 the Sullys and their nine children immigrated to Richmond, Virginia, where Thomas’s uncle managed a theater...
, to create a design that would be used to overhaul most of the American coins then in production. Mint Chief Engraver Kneass prepared a sketch based on Patterson's conception, but soon suffered a stroke, leaving him partially incapacitated. Following Kneass' stroke, government officials approved Patterson's urgent request that Christian Gobrecht
Christian Gobrecht
Christian Gobrecht was the third Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1835 until his death in 1844. He was responsible for designing the famous "Seated Liberty" designs, which were in turn the direct inspiration for the design of the Trade Dollar...
be hired immediately to fulfill the duties of engraver; Director Moore requested the same prior to his resignation, but no action was taken until after Kneass' stroke.
In a letter dated August 1, 1835, Patterson proposed that Sully create a Seated Liberty figure for the obverse
Obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
, suggesting that the "figure be in a sitting posture—sitting, for example, on a rock." Patterson also suggested that the seated figure should hold in her right hand a pileus
Pileus (hat)
The pileus — also pilleus or pilleum — was a cap worn by sailors in Ancient Greece and later copied by Ancient Rome. It was a brimless, felt cap, somewhat similar to a fez...
atop a pole to be "emblematic of Liberty". 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." 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 admitted to the Union], and carrying in its claws a scroll with the words E PLURIBUS UNUM". 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", 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
Taxidermy
Taxidermy is the act of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all vertebrate species of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians...
after his death by becoming caught in a coining press and remains on view at the Mint to this day.
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. 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
Levi Woodbury
Levi Woodbury was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, a U.S. Senator, Governor of New Hampshire and cabinet member in three administrations. He was the first Justice to have attended law school....
, and the rest of the cabinet all approved of the design. On October 17, while Jackson and his cabinet were reviewing the design, Woodbury wrote Patterson giving permission to proceed with creating dies
Die (manufacturing)
A die is a specialized tool used in manufacturing industries to cut or shape material using a press. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create...
for the new coins based on the prints. In January 1836, die trials were conducted in soft metal. These pieces were then circulated among the public for suggestions. 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. While Peale continued his work, Gobrecht was ordered to begin work on a new 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. Despite the director's approval of the design, he instructed Peale to continue until Patterson was satisfied. This was evidently achieved, because Patterson ordered Gobrecht to begin work on a reverse die in June. In August, Patterson sent a uniface striking of the reverse die to President Jackson, who approved designs for both sides of the coin.
Production
In September 1836, Chief Coiner Adam EckfeldtAdam Eckfeldt
Adam Eckfeldt was a worker and official in the early days of the United States Mint. A lifelong Philadelphian, Eckfeldt served as the second chief coiner of the Mint, from 1814 until 1839....
began sinking the working dies that would be used to strike the coins. However, before production could begin, Patterson ordered that Gobrecht's name be added to the dollar. His name appeared as "C. GOBRECHT F", meaning "Christian Gobrecht Fecit", or "Christian Gobrecht made it". The Gobrecht dollar was first struck in December 1836. Several pieces were produced and distributed throughout Philadelphia. Despite a positive reception for the overall design, many criticized the prominent display of Gobrecht's name on the coin. Gobrecht requested that his name be removed entirely from the face of the coin; instead, the engraver was instructed to change its size and placement at the behest of Patterson.
When the full-scale production began, the reverse eagle was surrounded by 26 stars rather than 24 as Patterson had originally requested of Sully, as the states of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
and Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
had been admitted to the Union since Patterson's letter was penned in 1835. Some of the Gobrecht dollars produced were struck with 'medal alignment', meaning that the obverse and reverse images both face upward when the coin is rotated. For the 1837 production (which kept the 1836 date), Patterson ordered that the coins be struck in coin alignment, the opposite of medal alignment. An act of January 18, 1837, officially changed the legal standard for silver coins from 89.2% to 90% silver. Numismatic historian Walter Breen asserts that those pieces struck before the passage of this act are technically patterns (or coins created to test their design, composition or other points), as they were not authorized by Congress. In total, 1,000 pieces dated 1836 were struck in 89.2% silver and 600 in 90% silver. Gobrecht dollars struck prior to passage of the act weighed 26.96 gram (0.950986018353818 oz), while those struck later weighed 26.73 gram (0.942873007069643 oz).
Persistent public demand for the new coins prompted Woodbury to contact Patterson, requesting more silver dollars. In 1838, the design was modified to remove the stars from the reverse. In 1838 and throughout the production run, a number of different Gobrecht dollar patterns, which differed from the general issues, were struck. A small number were struck bearing the date of 1838 that did not bear Gobrecht's initials in any form. In total, 300 1839 dollars of this type were struck for circulation, all in medal alignment. Patterson's trial issue had evidently been a success, as full-scale production of the Seated Liberty dollar
Seated Liberty dollar
The Seated Liberty dollar was the last silver dollar struck before passage of the Coinage Act of 1873, which officially ended production of that denomination...
began in 1840. The Seated Liberty dollar utilized the same obverse design as the Gobrecht dollar, though the reverse was altered from a soaring to a heraldic eagle.
Restrikes
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 SnowdenJames Ross Snowden
James Ross Snowden was treasurer of the United States Mint from 1847 to 1850, and director of the Mint from 1853 to 1861. A notable numismatist of his day, Snowden contributed to such publications as Bouvier's Law Dictionary as well as publishing several numismatic works of his own.-Published...
began selling and trading restrikes of Gobrecht dollars for rare medals (especially those depicting or relating to former President George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
), which were then added to the Mint's coin collection
National Numismatic Collection
The National Numismatic Collection is the national coin cabinet of the United States. The collection is part of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.-Overview:...
, then known as a coin cabinet. The money generated from selling the restrikes went toward purchasing new items for the coin cabinet. 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; some Mint employees were creating and selling restrikes of early American coins for their own profit. 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. 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. Numismatic historian Walter Breen suggests that Snowden simply used the alignment because that was the same used on the Flying Eagle cent
Flying Eagle cent
The Flying Eagle cent is a United States coin that was minted from 1856 to 1858. The coin was designed by James B. Longacre. The Flying Eagle was the first small-sized cent coin minted in the US, replacing the earlier large cent. The obverse of the coin depicts an eagle in flight, a unique subject...
, which began production in 1856. Mint Engraver James B. Longacre, its designer, had borrowed Gobrecht and Peale's eagle reverse for the one cent coin's obverse.