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Gobrecht Dollars

Published March 16, 2026

Dollars

Coin Design History

Gobrecht Dollars (1836–1839)

Collectors Key Editorial  •  Dollar Series
Author NameChris D.Date PublishedMarch 16, 2026 DenominationDollar Years Issued1836, 1838, 1839 DesignerChristian Gobrecht (after Thomas Sully and Titian Peale) Composition89.24% Silver, 10.76% Copper (original 1836 strikings); 90% Silver, 10% Copper (later strikings and restrikes) Weight26.96 grams (originals); 26.73 grams (later strikings) EdgePlain (most 1836); Reeded (1838, 1839, some restrikes) MintPhiladelphia

Patterson Wanted a Design That Looked Like a Masterwork, and Gobrecht Produced One

The silver dollar had been dormant since 1804 and the federal coinage was generally considered undistinguished. Mint Director Robert M. Patterson, who took office in 1835, set out to change both conditions simultaneously. He commissioned Philadelphia artist Thomas Sully to sketch an obverse and Titian Peale, the naturalist and painter, to sketch an eagle for the reverse. The concept for the obverse was a seated Liberty in the classical tradition, modeled on the figure of Britannia long used on British coinage, but rendered with the specific character of a new republic. Chief Engraver William Kneass prepared an early sketch before suffering a stroke that left him incapacitated, and the full execution of the design passed to Christian Gobrecht, who had been engaged as second engraver in part to fill the void Kneass's illness created. Gobrecht completed a copper engraving of the obverse design on October 14, 1836; President Jackson, Treasury Secretary Woodbury, and the cabinet reviewed and approved the design three days later. Gobrecht then translated both Sully's Liberty and Peale's soaring eagle into working dies.1

The result was the most consequential coin design of the 19th-century republic. The seated Liberty that Gobrecht placed on the dollar obverse of 1836 became, with modifications, the template for the half dime, dime, quarter, and half dollar within a year of its debut, and the Seated Liberty design persisted across those denominations in various forms until 1891. No other single design in United States silver coinage history spread so quickly to so many denominations or endured so long. The reverse eagle, by contrast, was confined to the dollar: it flies freely through a field of 26 stars on the 1836 original, without the heraldic trappings of the Draped Bust type that preceded it, and this naturalness was both what made it striking and what caused it to be replaced on the lower denominations when the series reached the quarter and half dollar in 1838.2

The 1836 Original Carries Gobrecht's Name, a Field of Stars, and a Die Alignment That Identifies It

The first Gobrecht dollars struck for actual circulation were produced in December 1836. The obverse bears a seated Liberty atop a rock, Liberty's left hand resting on a shield inscribed LIBERTY, her right arm raised, LIBERTY above in the field, the date below, and Gobrecht's name C. GOBRECHT F. on the base of the rock. The reverse carries the soaring eagle in a field of 26 stars, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above and ONE DOLLAR below within a raised border. The edge is plain. Approximately 1,000 pieces were struck at the original silver standard of 89.24% silver. The Mint Act of January 1837 changed the silver standard to 90%, and approximately 600 additional coins were struck in March 1837 using the same dies but at the new standard. These two groups look nearly identical by weight but are reliably distinguished by die alignment: the December 1836 coins have coin-turn alignment (when turned on the vertical axis the eagle flies upward and faces forward), while the March 1837 coins have medal-turn alignment (when turned on the vertical axis the eagle faces left at a slightly different angle). Both groups bear the 1836 date.3

The prominence of Gobrecht's name on the obverse generated complaints in some quarters that it was vain or inappropriate. His name remained on the dollar, but was moved from the legend position it occupied on the earliest patterns to the base-of-rock position on circulation pieces. On pattern varieties that preceded the circulation issues, the name appeared in a more conspicuous location as "C. GOBRECHT F." (the F. standing for fecit, Latin for "made it"), a convention borrowed from European medallic practice. The presence or absence of the name, its exact placement and form, and whether it was removed or obliterated after striking are all diagnostic details that help distinguish originals from various restrike categories.4

The 1838 and 1839 Are Rare in Original Form, and Nearly Everything Attributed to These Dates Is a Restrike

In 1838 the design was modified: Gobrecht's name was removed from the base of Liberty's rock, the reverse stars were eliminated leaving the eagle in a plain field, stars were added around the obverse periphery, and the edge was changed to reeded. This modified configuration represents the transition toward the Seated Liberty dollar that entered full production in 1840. True original 1838 Gobrecht dollars are among the rarest issues in the entire dollar series. The Smithsonian holds a confirmed example; perhaps two or three others have been documented. The approximately 20 to 30 examples of the 1838 type encountered in specialist commerce are overwhelmingly restrikes produced by Mint employees in the late 1850s and 1860s, first under Mint Director James Ross Snowden and later under other administrations. These restrikes can often, though not always, be identified by more advanced die cracks relative to the originals, but attribution remains contested on individual examples and specialist research continues.5

The 1839 Gobrecht dollar is documented at 300 pieces struck for circulation, and worn examples in grades from Good through Very Fine survive as evidence of genuine use. These coins share the 1838 design: no Gobrecht signature, stars on the obverse, eagle in a plain reverse field, reeded edge. Like the 1838, the 1839 was restruck in later decades, and restrike 1839 examples outnumber originals in the market. The restrikes typically show die cracks that deepened through successive production runs; distinguishing originals from restrikes requires direct examination and is not reliably done from photographs alone. The question of which example in a given collection is an original and which is a restrike is not settled for many specimens.6

The Gobrecht dollar is positioned at a junction: between the early coinage that preceded it and the Seated Liberty series that followed; between circulation issue and pattern; between original production and 19th-century restrike commerce. It is catalogued in the pattern coin reference (Judd numbers) as well as in the regular dollar series, because it belongs to both. The practical collecting decision is whether to pursue a single example of the accessible 1836 type as a representative of the design that would reshape every silver denomination, or to pursue the full three-date original set, which is among the most challenging collecting projects in 19th-century silver coinage. Both are coherent goals. Only one is widely achievable.

Building the Set

A type set requires one coin: a 1836 J-60 original (name on base, stars on reverse, plain edge) in any grade. This is the accessible entry point and the coin most collectors mean when they describe owning a Gobrecht dollar. Circulated examples exist from the coins' genuine circulation in the late 1830s; Proof-quality survivors, which represent the majority of what comes to auction, span grades from Proof 55 through Proof 66. A recent realized price for orientation: Stack's Bowers Galleries, August 27, 2025, lot 3104, 1836 J-60 Original, PCGS Proof 62 CMQ, $38,400. A three-date original set (1836, 1838, 1839) requires the near-unobtainable 1838 original alongside the accessible 1836 and the rare 1839, and belongs in the category of long-term specialist projects with no guaranteed completion. The controlling specialist references are Bowers, Q. David, and Borckardt, Mark, Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia (Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers and Merena Galleries, 1993), and Judd, J. Hewitt, United States Pattern Coins, 10th ed., edited by Q. David Bowers (Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2009).7

Notes

  1. Patterson's engagement of Sully and Peale; Kneass's early sketch and subsequent stroke; Gobrecht's engagement as second engraver; the completion of the copper engraving on October 14, 1836; Jackson, Woodbury, and the cabinet's approval on October 17; and Gobrecht's translation of both Sully's Liberty and Peale's eagle into dies are from Taxay, Don, The U.S. Mint and Coinage (New York: Arco Publishing, 1966), pp. 145–175, and Bowers, Q. David, and Borckardt, Mark, Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia (Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers and Merena Galleries, 1993), pp. 450–510.
  2. The seated Liberty design's spread to the half dime, dime, quarter, and half dollar within a year of the dollar's debut; its persistence across denominations until 1891; the naturalness of Peale's soaring eagle as distinct from the heraldic tradition; and its replacement on the lower denominations when the Seated Liberty design reached the quarter and half dollar in 1838 are from Bowers and Borckardt, Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars, pp. 450–560.
  3. The December 1836 circulation striking of approximately 1,000 coins at 89.24% silver; the obverse description (seated Liberty on rock, C. GOBRECHT F. on base, LIBERTY above, date below); the reverse description (soaring eagle in 26-star field, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ONE DOLLAR); the plain edge; the Mint Act of January 1837 changing the silver standard to 90%; the approximately 600 March 1837 strikings using the same dies at the new standard; and the die alignment distinction (December 1836 coins: coin-turn/eagle flies upward; March 1837 coins: medal-turn) are from Bowers and Borckardt, Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars, pp. 510–580, and Judd, J. Hewitt, United States Pattern Coins, 10th ed., ed. Q. David Bowers (Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2009), p. 60 (J-60 entry).
  4. The controversy over Gobrecht's name on the obverse; its placement in a conspicuous legend position on early patterns versus the base-of-rock position on circulation pieces; the Latin convention of fecit; and the diagnostic value of the name's presence, position, and form for distinguishing originals from restrikes are from Bowers and Borckardt, Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars, pp. 510–560.
  5. The 1838 design modifications (Gobrecht's name removed, reverse stars eliminated, obverse stars added, edge changed to reeded); the extreme rarity of true 1838 originals; the Smithsonian's confirmed example; the estimate of two or three other documented originals; the 20 to 30 total examples of the 1838 type known, predominantly restrikes produced under Snowden and later administrations; and the ongoing difficulty of attribution by die crack analysis are from Bowers and Borckardt, Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars, pp. 580–640.
  6. The 1839 mintage of 300 for circulation; worn examples in grades from Good through Very Fine as evidence of genuine use; the shared design with the 1838; the production of restrikes in later decades; the preponderance of restrike examples in the market; and the difficulty of distinguishing originals from restrikes without direct examination are from Bowers and Borckardt, Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars, pp. 640–680.
  7. The type set recommendation; the 1836 J-60 original as the accessible entry point; the three-date original set as a specialist project; and the primary references are from Bowers and Borckardt, Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia (Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers and Merena Galleries, 1993), and Judd, United States Pattern Coins, 10th ed. (Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2009). Auction records: Stack's Bowers Galleries, August 27, 2025, 1836 J-60 Original, PCGS Proof 62 CMQ, $38,400.

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