Gobrecht Dollar - Production

Production

In September 1836, Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt 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", short for "Christian Gobrecht Fecit", meaning "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 around its vertical axis. For the 1837 production (which kept the 1836 date), Patterson ordered that the coins be struck in coin alignment, the opposite of medal alignment, and the practice with current US coins (the two faces both are upright when the coin is rotated about its horizontal axis). 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 grams (0.951 oz), while those struck later weighed 26.73 grams (0.943 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. 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 dollars of this type dated 1839 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 an obverse design based on that of the Gobrecht dollar, though the reverse was altered from a soaring to a heraldic eagle.