Lot 1164
1836 Pattern Dollar. Silver, plain edge. Rarity 1. NGC graded Proof 64. J-60. Wonderful blue toning on both sides. A spectacular specimen, as graded, of this, one of the most desirable of all American silver coins. Both obverse and reverse are vibrantly toned and fully iridescent; so shimmering as to be virtually luminescent!
Just 1,000 of these pieces were minted in December, 1836, all with mirror Proof finish. Some of them were presented to congressmen and local personages, including two that went to President Andrew Jackson; others were given to Treasury officials, and a few to numismatic cabinets. Curiously (and unlike Proof issues before it), many hundreds were simply put into circulation for face value! This is the first (but not only) instance in which a coin made from polished dies, deliberately with Proof intention, ended up in circulation. Only a handful of very choice examples like the present coin exist today.
The genesis of the Gobrecht dollar traces to 1835 when Christian Gobrecht was hired at the Philadelphia Mint, to assist Chief Engraver William Kneass, who in August had suffered a stroke. Gobrecht was one of the best known engravers in the United States at the time. Because he didn't want to be known as an assistant engraver, he was hired as a "second engraver," in his mind this meant "another engraver," not someone holding subsidiary rank. Gobrecht created designs based on the works of Titian Peale and Thomas Sully; the eagle, it was said, was taken from "Peter," a live mascot at the mint who met a sad fate and is now enshrined in a glass cabinet in the foyer of the current Philadelphia Mint. The first silver dollars had the inscription C. GOBRECHT F. in large capital letters above the date and below the base of Miss Liberty.
In its final form the Gobrecht silver dollar appears as here, with Gobrecht's name placed less conspicuously on the base. Pop 6; 2 finer in 65 (PCGS # 11227) .
Estimated Value $40,000 - 44,000.
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