Q. David Bowers
"Pattern" Coins With Motto
So-called "pattern" Proof dollars dated 1863, 1864, and 1865 with the motto IN GOD WE TRUST exist in silver as well as copper and aluminum. Designated as patterns by R. Coulton Davis (1880), Adams-Woodin (1913), and Judd (1959), these pieces were in fact made about 1867-1868, most likely for Mint Director H.R. Linderman and his cronies.
Evidence includes the existence of an 1865 With-Motto dollar clearly overstruck on an 1866 (!) dollar (Fairfield sale, Lot 27), and the fact that the reverse dies used on the 1863-1865 With-Motto dollars are the same as used to strike Proofs in 1866, 1867, and 1868.
San Francisco Coinage Contemplated
Two obverse and six reverse dies were shipped to San Francisco, but no 1866-S coinage occurred; indeed, no dollar coinage was effected at that institution until 1870-S.
The Year 1866 in History
On February 12, 1866, the United States demanded that French forces be removed from Mexico. Napoleon III had attempted to set up an empire in North America and had installed Emperor Maximilian as the ruler. In 1867, Mexican forces would depose and execute Maximilian. In the meantime, Mexican mints issued coins with his image. Chinese traders distrusted them, preferring the older pesos.
Congress passed a Civil Rights Act on April 9, 1866, over-riding President Andrew Johnson's veto. All native-born people automatically became citizens, Indians excepted. Reconstruction continued in the South, and there were many hard feelings as carpetbaggers and scalawags continued to manage many local and state government activities. In New York City, Tammany Hall and "Boss" Tweed were in full swing, with Tweed controlling the state legislature via illegal payments.
Western Union acquired two telegraph companies and became the first significant industrial monopoly in the United States. The Washburn-Crosby Company was established in Wisconsin, and over a period of more than a century would grow to enormous size and become known as General Mills. The Nestle Company was founded by Henri Nestle, who sold a formula for infants' liquid food.
Pithole, an oil town in Pennsylvania, was connected by petroleum pipeline to a rail head five miles distant, the first such pipeline in the United States. Over papal objections, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was established in New York City, primarily to prevent the mistreatment of horses. (Pope Pius IX's argument cited the line in Genesis where God allegedly gave Adam dominion over all other species, and deduced from this that humans have no ethical obligations to lower animals.) In Sweden, Alfred Nobel invented dynamite. On May 11, a financial panic hit London banks and securities brokers. After the Civil War, the American economy was sound, but in 1866 a decline in prices set in, and a recession started, influenced by the London panic.
Popular songs included When You and I Were Young, Maggie, by JA. Butterfield and Washington Johnson.
At the beginning of the year the director of the Mint was James Pollock, who took office in May 1861 and served until September 1866. He was succeeded in October 1866 by William Millward, who served until April 1867 (he was never confirmed by Congress).
IN GOD WE TRUST appeared on circulating coinage of the silver quarter, half dollar, and dollar, and on the gold $5, $10, and $20 for the first time. Business strike mintage quantities for the lower silver denominations, three-cents through the dime, were exceptionally low. The silver three-cent denomination would continue to be made only in small numbers until it was discontinued in 1873. Pattern five-cent coins with' the image of Lincoln were produced at the Mint, but nothing further came of the idea. Lincoln did not appear on regular coinage until the cent of 1909.
In this year, the American Numismatic Society began publishing the American Journal of Numismatics; this would continue on a regular basis until 1920.