United States patterns are
a fascinating part of numismatics that encompass a myriad
of designs and experimental pieces made by the U.S. Mint
to test new concepts and motifs, to provide coins for numismatists,
and for other reasons. The book United States Pattern Coins,
by J. Hewitt Judd, gives extensive details of the history
and characteristics of more than 2,000 different pattern
varieties from 1792 to the present era.
U.S. Rare Coin Investments is buying,
selling, trading Patterns and all types of Rare Coins &
Rare Gold Coins!
1836 Gobrecht Dollar
(J-60, R-1) PCGS PR61 Restrike - Although we have listed
it here in the pattern section, and this coin is listed
in both Judd and Pollock books as well, this in fact
is a regular issue. More
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1839 50C (J-102, High
R-7) NGC PR66 Restrike CAC - The so-called "Gobrecht
Half Dollar", sharing the same basic design as the popular
Gobrecht dollars struck in the same decade as the date
on this coin. More
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1849 Gold $1 (J-115,
High R-7) PCGS MS-61 Ex Wilkison - A wonderful piece
of numismatic art, from the hand of Chief engraver James
Barton Longacre. More
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1859 50C (J-238, R-5)
NGC PF-65BN CAC - A pattern half dollar piece struck
in the late 1850's as part of a large set of various
half dollar patterns. More
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1864 S$1 (J-397, low
R-7) PCGS PR-66BN CAC - One of the numismatic fantasies
produced at the Philadelphia Mint at a later time than
noted on the coin. More
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1865 25C (J-426, low
R-7) NGC PF65 RB - A wonderful and premium quality example
of this so-called transitional quarter, of the type
introduced in 1866 but dated 1865. More
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1866 5C (J-498, high
R-7) PCGS PR65RB - The new five-cent nickel denomination
was introduced in 1866, when the first Shield nickels
were produced at the Philadelphia Mint. More
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J-663 1868 $10 (J-663,
low R-6) NGC PF65CAM CAC - Struck during a time when
circulating money was still nowhere to be seen in general
commerce. More
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J-663 1868 $10 (J-663,
low R-6) NGC PF65CAM CAC - Struck during a time when
circulating money was still nowhere to be seen in general
commerce. More
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J-797 1870 3C (J-797,
low R-7) PCGS PR-64CAM CAC - A wonderful example of
this prime numismatic delicacy, struck exclusively for
sale to wealthy collectors. More
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1870 10C (J-831, high
R-6) PCGS PR-64 – An exceptional good looking
fantasy piece, using a new Liberty seated obverse designed
by William Barber and a regular dime reverse die. More
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1870 10C (J-841, high
R-7) PCGS PR-62 – The standard silver issues are
generally considered common within the whole spectrum
of American patterns. More
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1870
50C (J-980, R-8) NGC PF-64CAM – An extremely rare
fantasy piece, of which this may be one of only two examples
available on the public market. More
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1871 25C (J-1094, high
R-7) NGC PF-64RB – The Indian princess design
by James Barton Longacre generally is considered to
be one of the most well executed coin designs, More
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1871 50C (J-1115, low
R-7) NGC PF-64RB – A wonderful example of Longacre’s
Indian Princess design, as executed by Chief Engraver
William Barber. More
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J-1601 1879 50C (J-1601,
high R-7) PCGS PR-66 CAC – This is a wonderful
and rare pattern, with the same obverse as the popular
Morgan dollar, but with a different reverse and struck
as a half dollar. More
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J-A1840 DT10C 1840 PCGS
MS62. R-8. Uniface die trial (obverse) from drapery
dies tooled off to create a No Drapery prototype!
Patterns provide students and collectors a
chronology of the continuing efforts of engravers and artists
to present their work for approval. Throughout the 200+ years
of federal coinage production, concepts meant to improve various
aspects of circulating coins have been proposed and incorporated
into representative patterns. In some instances, changes have
been prompted by an outcry for higher aesthetics, a call for
a more convenient denomination, or a need to overcome striking
deficiencies. In many other instances, the Mint simply created
special coins for the numismatic trade-often controversial
in their time, but enthusiastically collected today. Certain
patterns, bearing particular proposed designs or innovations,
provided tangible examples for Mint and Treasury Department
officials or members of Congress to evaluate. If adopted,
the pattern design became a familiar regular-issue motif;
those that were rejected have become part of American numismatic
history.
The patterns listed and illustrated in this
section are representative of a much larger group. Such pieces
generally include die and hub trials, off-metal Proof strikings
of regular issues, and various combinations of dies that were
sometimes struck at a later date. Certain well-known members
of this extended pattern family historically have been included
with regular issues in many popular, general-circulation numismatic
reference books. The four-dollar gold Stellas of 1879 and
1880; certain Gobrecht dollars of 1836, 1838, and 1839; and
the Flying Eagle cents of 1856 are such examples. No official
mintage figures of patterns and related pieces were recorded
in most instances, and the number extant of each can usually
only be estimated from auction appearances and from those
found in museum holdings and important private collections.
Although most patterns are very rare, the 2,000+ distinct
varieties make them unexpectedly collectible-not by one of
each, but by selected available examples from favorite types
or categories.
Unlike regular coin issues that were emitted
through the usual channels of commerce, and Proofs of regular
issues that were struck expressly for sale to collectors,
patterns were not intended to be officially sold. Yet as a
matter of Mint policy in accordance with certain previously
established restrictions, countless patterns were secretly
and unofficially sold and traded to favorite dealers and collectors,
disseminated to government officials, and occasionally made
available to numismatic societies. Not until mid-1887 did
the Mint enforce stringent regulations prohibiting their sale
and distribution, although there had been several misleading
statements to this effect earlier. In succeeding decades the
Mint, while not making patterns available to numismatists,
did place certain examples in the Mint Collection, now called
the National Numismatic Collection, in the Smithsonian Institution.
On other occasions, selected patterns were obtained by Mint
and Treasury officials, or otherwise spared from destruction.
Today, with the exception of certain cents and five-cent pieces
of 1896, all pattern coins dated after 1885 are extremely
rare.
The private possession of patterns has not
been without its controversy. Most significant was the 1910
seizure by government agents of a parcel containing some 23
"pattern pieces" belonging to John W. Haseltine,
a leading Philadelphia coin dealer with undisclosed private
ties to Mint officials. The government asserted that the patterns
had been removed from the Mint without authority, and that
they remained the property of the United States. Haseltine's
attorney successfully used the Mint's pre-1887 policies in
his defense, and recovered the patterns a year after their
confiscation. This set precedent for ownership, at least for
the patterns minted prior to 1887, as all of the pieces in
question predated that year. Today, pattern coins can be legally
held.
Among the grandest impressions ever produced
at the U.S. Mint are the two varieties of pattern fifty-dollar
gold pieces of 1877. Officially titled half unions, these
large patterns were created at the request of certain politicians
with interests tied to the gold-producing state of California.
Specimens were struck in copper, and one of each variety was
struck in gold. Both of the gold pieces were purchased around
1908 by numismatist William H. Woodin (who, years later, in
1933, served as President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first secretary
of the Treasury). The Mint desired to re-obtain the pieces
for its own collection, and through a complex trade deal for
quantities of other patterns, did so, adding them to the Mint
Collection. Now preserved in the Smithsonian Institution,
these half unions are regarded as national treasures.
