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THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
SILVER DOLLAR
By Richard Giedroyc The
silver dollar was a natural denomination to be adopted by the fledgling
United States. The
tradition of the so-called “crown” size coin dates from the late 15th
century when significant silver finds in Germany and central Europe were
struck into talers. The word taler has been translated into many languages
where the crown size silver coin has been used. Among these translations
are daler, daalder and dollar. The word dollar is not unique to the United
States, nor was it first used here. James VI of Scotland struck a
30-shilling coin between 1567 and 1571 generally called the Sword Dollar
due to his depiction on the obverse holding a sword. The Double Merk of
1578 is called the Thistle Dollar. Charles II of England (1660-1685)
struck a dollar denomination coin for Scotland. Fractional
denominations were in half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth dollar
denominations. Spain issued crown size silver coins in the
denomination of 8 reales. Spanish colonial American Mints struck
silver mined in Central and South America into 8 reales and smaller
denominations, most of the coins shipped back to Spain. The 8-reales coins
not exported to Spain were used in local commerce in the New World, some
of them eventually arriving in the English colonies along the Atlantic
coast. In the 13
original colonies the 8-reales coin was popularly referred to as a milled
dollar. Considering the Royal Mint did not provide the necessary coins
needed for local commerce the American colonies used any foreign specie
available. The Spanish milled dollar was typically what was
available. It was so popular that the coin was
finally formally demonetized through an act of Congress in 1857. The
tradition of the fractions of the dollar which was initiated during the
reign of Charles II became popular. Although smaller or fractional
denomination Spanish colonial American coins were sometimes available,
many of the 8-reales coins were cut into pie
shaped halves, quarters, eighths and sixteenths to make change.
These are the famous “pieces of eight” of romantic literature. The United States settled on a decimal currency system rather than
the cumbersome pound sterling system of Great Britain or the awkward
denomination system based on the silver 8 reales and gold 8 escudos of
Spain. Within the American colonies Maryland was the first to issue
paper money in dollar denominations in 1766. In 1775 the Continental
Congress printed paper money again in the dollar denomination. The tradition of the U.S. dollar
denomination coin was born with the pewter, brass and silver composition
1776 Continental dollar coin varieties. These coins are generally accepted
to have been patterns rather than circulation coins, but they paved the
way for the tradition of a dollar denomination coin. Thomas
Jefferson was among the proponents for a silver dollar coin as early as
1785. These were difficult economic times for the young country. The
Spanish 8-reales coin filled the need in the absence of a U.S. Mint and
federally issued currency. When
Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton presented Congress with a
report on a Mint and a monetary system, a dollar coin with the approximate
weight and purity of the Spanish milled dollar was taken into serious
consideration. The very first
statute of the Mint Act of April 2, 1792, authorized striking of silver
dollar denomination coins. Our federal coinage actually begins in
1792 with what could be argued to be patterns, regular production of some
denominations commencing during 1793. The
first U.S. Silver Dollars were struck in 1794 The
silver dollar denomination was delayed until 1794, in part due to a
problem in requisitioning the necessary silver. Secretary of State
Jefferson rather than Secretary of the Treasury
Alexander Hamilton had initially been placed in charge of the Mint. Since
this caused a personal problem between the two men, Hamilton did not
cooperate in the necessary requisitions for bullion for striking these
coins. It isn’t
known for certain, but it appears the dies for the Flowing Hair silver
dollar of 1794 to 1795 may have been made as late as September 1794.
Mint Engraver Robert Scot designed the initial U.S. silver coins,
including the Flowing Hair silver dollar. No one knows for certain, but
Scot may have used Engraver Joseph Wright’s eagle design from the 1792
pattern quarter dollar coin for the eagle on the reverse of the first
silver dollar coin. The
initial silver dollar coins are struck of 26.96 grams of .8924 fine silver
alloyed with copper. The diameter is about 39 to 40 millimeters with a
lettered edge reading HUNDRED CENTS ONE DOLLAR OR UNIT. The Spanish
colonial American 8-reales coin beginning in 1772 has a weight of 27.07
grams of .903 fine silver. With this in mind and the fact Congress ruled
the 8 reales was to circulate on par with the new dollar coin, the silver
dollar coin would in reality circulate at a discount to the so-called
Spanish milled dollar or would fail to be accepted in commerce at all. The 1794 and 1795 Flowing Hair silver dollars are known for adjustment
marks, usually found along the rim. Denticles are occasionally pushed up
in places due to the edge lettering machine. The quality of the some of
the planchets used was inferior. All of these qualities should be observed
when considering a purchase or sale of this coin type. There was
difficulty in striking these first silver dollars to a presentable
quality. Look for a weakly struck obverse at about 6 o’clock with
corresponding weakness on the reverse at the same point. The press used to
produce these coins was actually meant for half dollar production. The
dies were cut into shallow relief to accommodate striking, but this did
not always succeed. A
new silver dollar press was constructed, but this wasn’t ready until
1795. Rejected silver dollar coins dated 1794 are known as the host
planchets for 1795 strikes. The date is not established for certain,
but it appears the Flowing Hair design was replaced with that of the
Draped Bust with Small Eagle reverse around September 1795, ending this
first silver dollar series as a two-year type coin. Milford
Henry Bolender’s book “The United States Early Silver Dollars from
1794 to 1803” should be referenced regarding the many varieties of these
first two dates in the silver dollar field.
New
Draped Bust design introduced in 1795
The
Draped Bust silver dollar coin design begins in 1795
and continues through 1803 with two distinct reverse
types (the 1804 Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle silver
dollar is a separate entity and is discussed
elsewhere). The
reasons for the change in designs midway through 1795
are not known, but there were some political
situations that may have encouraged a change in
designs to send a message in much the same way Spanish
colonial American 8-Reales or milled dollar coins were
changed from a pillars and hemispheres design to that
depicting the Spanish king to indicate a coinage
reform had taken place. The standard being used
to strike US silver coinage was actually illegal.
Although the silver dollar couldn’t compete on par
with the Spanish milled dollar due to the lower weight
and purity of the silver in the dollar, according to
law the silver dollar was actually supposed to be even
lighter. Following the letter of the law, the
dollar struck by the United States was supposed to be
of 371.25 grains of silver rather than 374.4 grains to
which it had been struck in 1794 and early 1795. If
the law was followed properly, this conformed to a
ratio of 15 to 1 for silver to gold. In fact the ratio
was 15.13 to 1. It appears Secretary of State Thomas
Jefferson, who was in charge of the Mint, and
President George Washington both learned of this
impropriety in the fall of 1795, perhaps about the
time the Flowing Hair silver dollar production
stopped. David Rittenhouse, the initial director
of the Mint, left his post June 30, 1795 due to ill
health. A Washington colleague, Henry William
DeSaussure, replaced him in July. DeSaussure was
informed of the problem with the weight of the silver
dollar and all other silver coins in regard to what
was stipulated in the law. DeSaussure did not
correct the oversight, but instead continued the
silver purity and weight of U.S. silver dollars as in
1794 and early 1795. DeSaussure did, however, take
steps to redesign all the silver denominations.
It is possible DeSaussure was displeased with the
design and the production problems of the early coins.
The design change of 1795 may have been for this
reason, but nothing is known for certain. If the
design change was meant to indicate a reform of the
weight of the coins, why didn’t he correct the
problem? The new Draped Bust obverse was based
on a drawing of Mrs. William Bingham (nee Ann Willing)
by artist Gilbert Stuart, the design given to Mint
Engraver Robert Scot. Local Philadelphia artist John
Eckstein was paid $30 to design the Small Eagle
reverse (in 1795, a Philadelphia artisan made $9.96
for a six-day work week). Production of the newly
designed silver dollar commenced in October 1795.
DeSaussure did not remain as Mint director for long.
He resigned following political infighting with
Congress, which considered the Mint too costly and
wanted to close it in favor of having our coins struck
elsewhere. DeSaussure may have made some statement
through the new design introduced during his tenure,
but it was Elias Boudinot who would be Mint director
when the coins were produced. Adjustment marks
continue to appear on some specimens of silver dollars
throughout the Draped Bust series, but the coins are,
in general, superior strikes to those of the previous
Flowing Hair silver dollar design. All
Draped Bust, Small Eagle silver dollars are tough to
find and desirable. There are two major varieties of
the 1795 coins. The mintage is modest at 42,738, a low
mintage even for that time. Bullion
deposits increase The
amount of bullion deposited with the Mint and the
priority of the Mint director to strike minor
denomination silver coins during 1796 led to an
increased but still reasonably low mintage figure of
72,920 silver dollars. It should be realized the Royal
Mint in Great Britain was ignoring small change coins
almost entirely at the same time, resulting in the
first of several rounds of the many merchant tokens to
be found. Boudinot may have been aware of this and may
have wanted to avoid such a situation in the United
States. There are more varieties of the 1796 than 1795
dollar coin to be collected. The
mintage of 1797 was ridiculously low for all silver
coin denominations. There were only 7,776 silver
dollars struck that year. A lack of silver bullion
being deposited at the Mint can be blamed for the
situation. Philadelphia merchant John Vaughn was a
large depositor of silver with the Mint. He didn’t
help the situation when during 1796 he learned of the
illegal weight standard used to strike the coins and
demanded about $2,300 in bullion coins for which he
believed he had been shorted through this practice.
His demand was not satisfied until 1800 after Congress
intervened in the dispute. In the meantime, publicity
surrounding the dispute affected the amounts of silver
being deposited with the Mint. Despite
the very low mintage of the 1797 silver dollar, there
are a number of major die varieties caused by the
positioning of the stars on the obverse on different
dies. It is also understood the 1797-dated
silver dollars may in fact have been struck outside
the calendar year. This was not uncommon at this time
(The 2000 Sacagawea dollar coin began production in
November 1999, yet all are dated 2000). In
November 1797, the Bank of North America delivered
about $30,000 worth of French silver coins to the Mint
with the stipulation the silver be coined into silver
dollars and returned to the bank. Although this meant
the general public might not benefit from 1798 and
1799 production of silver dollars from this silver,
the mintage figures would increase accordingly. The
mintage of 327,536 silver dollar coins in 1798 is
dramatic compared to earlier production figures. In
1799 the only silver denomination struck at the U.S.
Mint was the silver dollar, with a mintage of 423,515
pieces. As with the earlier issues, it isn’t clear
if the coins struck for a particular year carry that
date on the obverse. Mint reports typically
reflect the number of coins shipped rather than the
number of coins produced. The 1798 Draped Bust,
Small Eagle coin is more difficult to find than is the
1798 Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle silver dollar. The
reason for the change from the Small Eagle to the
Heraldic Eagle during 1798 is not documented, however
the gold $2.50 quarter eagle of 1796 began with this
Heraldic Eagle reverse. The reverse of the silver
denominations was changed following this improvement
on the new gold denomination, but not all at once. The
change may have been enacted to the silver dollar to
make the coinage more consistent in appearance. The
change may have been an important propaganda move
considering European coins of the time depict heraldic
reverses. No change in weight or purity accompanied
the change in this reverse design, although silver
U.S. coins were still technically struck to the wrong
weight. The
Mint had problems during 1798 and 1799. Hygiene in
Philadelphia was inferior to what we expect today.
Yellow Fever raged in the city during the summer of
both years, shutting down the Mint and sending all
citizens that could afford to leave to head for the
country while the poorer inhabitants were forced to
stay and face the plague. Considering the
confusion surrounding the disease and the inconsistent
periods during the summer when the Mint was open it
shouldn’t come as a surprise that dies were taken at
random to be used in coining machines rather than in
the usual orderly manner. Trying to follow die
progressions and die matches can be difficult for this
reason, as dies were sometimes taken out of turn for
use in striking coins. There
are numerous minor 1798 silver dollar varieties to
collect In
1799 the first overdate, 1798/9 is found in the dollar
coin series. There are at least 11 obverse and 17
reverse dies used in at least 23 different variety
combinations for the 1799 dollars. Silver
deposited with the Mint from sources other than the
Bank of North America improved in 1800, resulting in a
substantial number or dollar coins being struck. The
American economy was in a downturn, however the Mint
was under no obligation to send the silver dollar
coins to a single depositor. At least 16 varieties of
the 1800 silver dollar exist, perhaps the most
interesting being the reverse with the misspelling
AMERICAI. The dollar denomination was the only
silver coin struck at the Mint between 1798 and 1800.
The reasons aren’t entirely clear, but the sluggish
American economy probably had a lot to do with it. The
public and Congress began making greater demands on
the Mint into the early part of the 19th century.
Congress sometimes blamed the Mint unfairly for things
it couldn’t control such as the amount of gold and
silver it received as deposits. Producing small
change silver coins was a problem for the Mint because
most silver depositors demanded silver dollars in
return for their metal. Production
of 1801 silver dollars dropped simply because the
amount of silver received declined The
mintage of 1802 was even smaller, the Mint director
trying to encourage bankers to order smaller
denomination silver coins with little success.
The dies for striking silver dollars improved
dramatically in 1800. So did the quality control as
the number of varieties to be collected declines
significantly at this time. The
1803 issue improved from 1802 due to more silver
deposited at the Mint, however the Mint director
favored producing half dollars where possible. No
silver dollars were delivered from the Mint between
the end of June and Dec. 12. The Yellow Fever may have
been a factor during part of this time, but the Mint
director’s change in preferences was also a factor.
Boudinot did allow silver dollar production to resume
in December 1803 and continue through March 27, 1804.
All coins struck during this period are dated 1803,
with a possibility existing of some coins being struck
with even earlier dates. It is important to understand
no silver dollar coins dated 1804 were struck at this
time. The massive export of silver dollars during the
early 19th century finally led to the decision to stop
production of the denomination. No further silver
dollar coins would be struck until the 1830s.
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