Q. David Bowers
Restrikers
When were Gobrecht dollars restruck? Apparently, at different times. Walter H. Breen's view is that these were probably made by the "Midnight Minters" (George and Theodore Eckfeldt) 1858 to the summer of 1860, and again April 1867-April 1869, during the first Mint directorship of Dr. Richard Henry Linderman. On the other hand, R.W. Julian states this: "I doubt that anybody but Snowden made the restrikes in the 1858-1860 period. Two sets of people using the same dies is unlikely, and Snowden would have heard of someone selling the same kind of coins (Gobrecht dollars)." (Letters to the author from Walter H. Breen, February 12, 1992, and R.W.Julian, March 10, 1992. I tend to prefer the "Midnight Minters;' theory, inasmuch as it is a matter' of record (cf. Taxay, Counterfeit, Misstruck.and Unofficial U.S. Coins, in which, in discussing restrikes of the 1804 dollar, he cites instances of Director Snowden trying to retrieve carelessly-made restrikes produced by a "younger Eckfeldt"). As there is no specific documentation in Mint records, the truth will probably never be known.)
Concerning the preceding, Walter Breen noted this: (Letter from Walter H. Breen to the author, April 21, 1992, written after reading the preceding part of this paragraph.)
On the contrary: George Eckfeldt was the foreman in the coining room, and would I have had access to dies for Snowden's projects. What Snowden objected to-and why he confiscated the pattern dies in August 1859 and the others July 30, 1860-was George Eckfeldt's unauthorized use of the dies for private profit. The example of Franklin Peale, fired for similar activity with medal dies, was probably still fresh in Snowden's mind.
In The Numismatist, January 1911, p. 2, Edgar H. Adams wrote as follows:
It is understood when the dies .of all denominations were destroyed at the Mint in 1869 that some of the Gobrechtdies were among the number from which no examples had been struck, and it is barely possible that an 1837 dollar may have been among them.
While Adams wanted to point out that dies dated 1837 may have existed at one time (but no record of such has ever come to light, nor have any dollars with this date), more important is the information that in 1869 Gobrecht dollar dies were still in existence at the Mint. I believe that, official Mint protestations aside, some may have survived beyond that date. (R.W. Julian suggests that Adams' speculation had little basis in fact, as during the era of Adams' research "Mint records of the 1830s were boxed up at the old Post Office and were virtually inaccessible to research. This was .the reason that so many mistakes were made, for example, in the 1886 revision of mintage figures done under Director James P. Kimball's direction." Letter to the author, August 31, 1992.)
There is no reason Whatsoever 'to take any statements by James Ross Snowden, A. Loudon Snowden, Dr. Henry Richard Linderman or other Mint officials of the era as factual. Many of them were bare-faced lies. It is known that certain earlier dies were not destroyed in 1869, such as the no motto reverse of the Liberty Seated dollar (described by Judd as being the "regular die used on Proofs of 1857-58-59") employed in the following decade to make "fancy pieces," such as the 1875 pat" tern trade dollars J-1420 to J-1422 and the 1876 pattern dollars J-1470 and J-1471. "Fooling around" at the Mint did not stop until July 1885, this date marking the beginning of the directorship of James P. Kimball. (R.W.Julian comments on this: "There is no proof whatsoever that Gobrechts were struck after 1869. It is of course true that restrikes were made after that date for other coins, but many of the present ones derive from the A. Loudon Snowden hoard of the early 1900s." Cf.: Letter to the author, March 10, 1992.)
Stephen K. Nagy told me in the 1950s that he had obtained many Gobrecht dollars of rare varieties, and intimated that these Came from William Idler's estate and from the Mint itself, and that Henry O. Granberg, in particular, was a good customer for very rare and unlisted rarities such as he was able to supply. He stated that he had placed a "secret mark" on each Gobrecht dollar he handled, but he would not tell me what it was, saying "If you look at enough coins you will find it on your own." On an example of an 1839 Gobrecht dollar, J-105, described below, I found a tiny "dimple" over the I of UNITED. If any readers have Gobrecht dollars with similar characteristics I would appreciate learning about them; perhaps this may be Nagy's privy mark. (Certain numismatic items from the Nagy estate were handled by professional numismatist Catherine Bullowa in the late 1950s; much of the material was sold to Lester Merkin, who in turn sold it privately.)
The 1838 Gobrecht Dollar
All Gobrecht silver dollars bearing the date 1838 were intended as patterns or restrikes for collectors. None was made for circulation. Nonetheless, dollars of 1838 are avidly desired in order to fill this date space in collections.
In fact, this and other patterns have been listed in A Guide Book of u.s.Coins and other standard coin references for many years, which has increased their desirability and fame.
As a class, all 1838 Gobrecht dollars are much rarer than those dated 1836 and are slightly rarer than those dated 1839. As is the case with these other two dates, 1838 dollars exist in original and restrike form.
The Judd reference lists the following known varieties of 1838 dollars:
Judd-84: Obverse: Liberty Seated. Thirteen stars around upper border. No Gobrecht signature or inscription. Reverse: Eagle flying onward and upward in plain field. Silver. Reeded edge. All 1838 Gobrecht silver dollars have an authorized weight of 412.5 grains.