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!
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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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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J-1413 1875 20C NGC PF65 CAMEO. J-1413, P-1556, High R-7. All patterns and off-metal strikes of the short-lived 20 cent denomination are rare to extremely rare......More
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J-1426 1875 Trade Dollar T$1 NGC PF62. J-1426, P-1569, High R-7 Ex: Farouk. One of only four pieces of this pattern which were identified by Pollock in 1992......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-1601 1879 Half Dollar 50C PCGS PF64, Harry W. Bass Jr. Collection, R-6+. Nicknamed the “Miniature Morgan Dollar”, both sides of this pattern feature designs created by George T. Morgan.....More
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J-1645 1880 S$1 NGC PF63. R-6+ Looks 64! 1880 S$1 (J-1645, high R-6) NGC PF63. An interesting survivor from an experiment conducted by the United States Mint in the late 1870's...More
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J-1658 1880 $4 PCGS Genuine. Copper Gilt R-7. Certified by PCGS in one of the older genuine holders, this is an extremely rare pattern Stella...More
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J-1982, 1916 10C NGC F12 CAC, R-8+. Formerly lumped into the J-1794 category with other 1916 10c patterns, in the 9th Edition of the authoritative work The Official Red Book of United States Pattern Coins this distinctly unique design is now designated J-1982.....More
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J-221 1858 25C NGC PF64. R-7+ Rarest Paquet 25c. The obverse features Christian Gobrecht’s Seated Liberty design which was in wide use in 1858.....More
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J-245 1859 50C NGC PF64 CAC. R-6+. The obverse of this extremely rare pattern was designed by Chief Mint Engraver James B. Longacre and was known as the “French Liberty Head” design......More
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J-327 1863 10C PCGS PF64 CAC, R-6+. This predecessor to the 2c, 3c, and 5c pieces introduced at the end of the Civil War was struck on an aluminum planchet with a plain edge.......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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J450 1865 Ten Dollar $10 PCGS PF64 BN. R-6+ Transitional Copper $10, Civil War Date. J-450 1865 $10. This transitional pattern has a “coolness factor” of 10+!! Struck in copper with a reeded edge.....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-67 1836 Gold Dollar G$1 PCGS PR63 CAMEO, CAC. J-67, P-70, R-5. Struck in a composition of 90% gold and 10% copper, this is the first pattern gold dollar......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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J883 1870 Quater Dollar 25C NGC PF64 CAC. R-7. J-883 1870 25C NGC PF64, ex. Lemus Collection, R-7. Struck on a silver planchet with a plain edge.......More
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J-887 1870 25C PCGS PF66 CAC, R-7+. This attractive J-887 1870 25C PCGS PF66 CAC piece is certainly deserving of high status among the ultra rarities found in the area of United States pattern coins........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!...More
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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.