Q. David Bowers
The Hilt Theories (1980)
No discussion of the 1794 dollar would be complete without noting the revisionist theories proposed by Robert P. Hilt II in his 1980 book, The Die Varieties of Early United States Coins. Among his theories was that of a sharply revised mintage figure for dollars bearing the date 1794...
Hilt relates that the initial deposit of silver at the United States Mint was made by the Bank of Maryland on July 18, 1794, and consisted of 94,532 ounces of French minor coins of an inferior alloy. The Mint had but crude refining facilities at the time, and when the metal from this deposit was brought up to the required standard the silver was imperfect. Planchets made from this batch "show splitting and craters on the surfaces," according to Hilt. However, in actuality, 1794 silver dollars were not made from the Bank of Maryland deposit (but were made from silver ingots deposited by Director David Rittenhouse and Charles Gilchrist).
He further related that 5,574 silver dollar planchets had been prepared by October 1794, and coinage began. Initial production consisted of 1,758 pieces, after which coinage was suspended. Hilt identified dollars from this first group by the poor striking of the stars at the lower left obverse and lightness of detail on the corresponding part of the reverse. He called these pieces Class I, and noted they were struck from perfect dies and blackened planchets. 1,758 such pieces were delivered on October 15, 1794.
He noted that Class II 1794 dollars were struck from lapped dies and blackened planchets, and that 3,810 coins were delivered on May 6, 1795. Class III 1794 dollars were struck from lapped dies and normal planchets, and 1,200 additional pieces were delivered on May 16, 1795. These figures add up to a revised total of 6,768 dollars dated 1794.
In his narrative comments, Mr. Hilt stated that after 1,758 1794 dollars were struck the dies were badly clashed and coinage was halted. He noted that survivors from this group of 1,758 are identifiable by having the stars on the lower left obverse and the corresponding area of the upper left reverse sharply struck. These were struck on a press intended for large cents, but which was put into service to make dollars [a fact which no one disputes]. Hilt suggested that when a correct large press was put into service in May 1795, lapped dies of 1794 were used, and that the lapping, intended to remove clash marks, weakened the design on the lower left obverse die on the corresponding area of the upper left of the reverse. The same writer stated that about 105 dollars of the 1794 date survive today.
Most students of the series, including the present author, believe that the weakness was caused by aligning the obverse and reverse die in a non-parallel fashion. Mr. Hilt illustrates and shows "presentation" coins from October 15, 1794 and notes that coins in the Lord St. Oswald Collection were also "presentation" pieces. I am not aware of any documentation for such presentations, or, for that matter, that anyone connected with the Lord St. Oswald Collection ever visited the Mint (the collection consisted of mixed coinage, dated no later than 1795, but including worn pieces as well as Uncirculated coins).
While the Hilt theories are interesting, I prefer to adhere to the commonly accepted delivery figure of 1,758 coins (plus, perhaps, 250 or so coins of defective strike held back for later use as planchets in 1795). I believe that the typical weakness of striking at the lower left of the obverse and corresponding area of the reverse on all known coins was due to the die faces not being parallel in the press, not, as Hilt suggests, to die resurfacing.
With regard to other early dollars, the Hilt study employs some highly interesting methods and ideas. Although I do not agree with certain of his conclusions concerning die progressions and mintage quantities, his text furnishes much excellent food for thought. (See also my comments about Robert Hilt's numbers for the 1797 BB-72 dollar, under that heading.)
The Year 1794 in History
The Whiskey Rebellion took place in western Pennsylvania when farmers on what was then the American frontier objected to a federal tax on whiskey. At the time, liquor was a medium of exchange and a store of value, as corn distilled into whiskey could be shipped more economically to eastern markets and was more easily stored and traded than grain. Tax collectors were tarred and feathered=or worse, President George Washington ordered the federal militia to stop such acts, which he called treasonous. Some Rebellion leaders were taken to Philadelphia (then capital of the United States) and tried. Two were convicted but Were pardoned by the president. The Whiskey Rebellion was the first test of government power to enforce laws enacted by Congress.
On March 22, 1794 Congress forbade the states to engage in the slave trade with foreign nations, Nevertheless, the law was widely ignored, and slavers, as they were called, continued to bring their ships from Africa to ports in the southern United States. Slave markets flourished. In 1794, France declared that all slaves within its borders were free, becoming the first country in the world to make such a move.
The Battle of Fallen Timbers, August 20, 1794, was won by the government ending attacks on American settlers by Indians in the Kentucky and Ohio districts. Indians had been encouraged by the British to attack white settlers.
Jay's Treaty was signed on November 19, 1794, settling certain outstanding, unresolved disputes between the United States and Great Britain, but certain terms=including the provision that the British 'could search American vessels and take as prisoners any seamen of British citizenship-were met with disfavor in the United States. The Insurance Company of North America, chartered from Philadelphia, became the first United States firm to offer life insurance policies.
The Lancaster Road, financed by a $465,000 stock issue, opened to link Lancaster with Philadelphia and the Delaware River. The dirt thoroughfare; 62 miles in length, was a great success and paid dividends as high as 15% in some years. This set the tone for other toll road projects, including the Cumberland Road in 1811. In an era before canals and railroads, toll roads provided the main links between cities. Transportation was by horse and carriage. Few Americans traveled far from home. Eastern cities, mainly located on the Atlantic coast or on large inland tributaries, were connected by sailing ship routes-which facilitated trade.
The membership rolls for Peale's Museum were opened in Philadelphia by portrait artist Charles Wilson Peale in January 1794. For the sum of one dollar, a patron could gain admission for the year. The first to subscribe was President George Washington, who bought four tickets. Exhibits in this; the first notable popular museum in America, pertained to natural history, art, and science.
Bowdoin College was founded in Maine in 1794; it would go on to have such illustrious instructors as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Harriet Beecher Stowe and to be recognized as a premier institution of higher learning. John Trumbull, American artist, produced his heroic-sized painting, The Declaration of Independence, which would become famous (and which in 1976 would be used on the reverse of the $2 bill). The first section of Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason was published in Paris, and solidified public opinion about Paine into two starkly opposing camps: staunch supporters, and vehement opponents. 1794 was; after all, the beginning of the Reign of Terror in France.
At the Philadelphia Mint, the emphasis was on copper coinage, and numerous varieties of half cents and large (as they would later be called) cents were struck. Half dollars and silver dollars were also made. Dies were prepared for 1794- dated half dimes but were not used until the following year. In New York City, the trading firm of Talbot, Allum & Lee issued copper one-cent pieces imported from Birmingham, England.