The History of United States Coinage As Illustrated by the Garrett Collection

In November 1836 a new style of half dollar which featured a reeded edge and a smaller diameter, a redesigning of the motif used earlier, was issued. On November 8th ten Proofs were sent by the director of the Mint to the secretary of the Treasury. These were the first specimens of silver coinage using steampowered presses. Patterson's letter of transmittal said:

I have the pleasure to send you herewith, and beg you to exhibit to the President, the first specimens of our coinage of silver by steam, executed this afternoon. The milling, as well as the striking, has been done by the new machinery, and the steam-power; and the saving of labor, and the acceleration of our work, will be very great. Heretofore we have used only two screw presses for coining half dollars, one of them only occasionally. The smaller of these presses required three men to work it, the larger four. The steam press, with a single hand to feed the planchets, will do more work than these two presses with seven hands. You will observe, too, that the work is better done. The old coin was struck in what we term an open collar; this was struck in a closed collar which makes the edges of the pieces thicker, and gives a mathematical equality to their diameters.

I think, also, you will not fail to see a considerable improvement in the impressions themselves. We do not, indeed, consider this as a new coin, such as the dollar will be; yet both the face and the reverse have been altered in many particulars, as you will see by a comparison with the old half dollar. These alterations, including a change in the diameter of the piece, are such as we introduced in the quarter dollar and have met with the approbation of the government.

I shall, in a short time, send you an impression of the new dollar. Weare busily engaged in making a press suitable for coining it ...

Following the death of Kneass, Christian Gobrecht was appointed on December 21, 1840, as the chief engraver of the Mint. He continued in that post until he died on July 23, 1844.

An attraction at the Mint around this time was Peter, a pet eagle. Writing in the 1880s, George G. Evans described Peter, then stuffed and on exhibit in the Philadelphia Mint: Near the exit door of the Cabinet, in a large glass case, is a magnificent American eagle, which is worthy of the visitor's attention. It is superbly mounted, with grand breadth of wing and wondrous piercing eyes. The portrait of this "pet" can be recognized on the reverse of the pattern silver dollars of 1836-1839 and on the obverse of the 1856 flying eagle cent.

Peter is the name which the noble bird recognized. He was an inhabitant of the Mint for six years. He would fly about the city, but no one interfered with the going or the coming of the "Mint bird" and he never failed to return from his daily exercise before the time for closing the building. In an evil hour he unfortunately perched upon a large flywheel, and getting caught in the machinery received a fatal injury to his wing, and this ended rather an unusual career for an eagle.

The preparation of coinage designs was modernized in 1836 with the purchase of a reducing pantograph, the French Tour a Portrait de Contamin, or portrait lathe. Using the new method, an engraver or artist could sculpt or model a wax representation of the design about six inches in diameter. Previously the design had to be cut actual size into a steel die. With the enlarged diameter, artistic refinements were possible, not to overlook greater ease of design preparation. From the wax model a plaster cast was prepared. From this another cast, in metal, was made. The portrait lathe employed a stylus which would trace the relief of the large model and transfer it to any reduction desired on a hub die.