Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States - A Complete Encyclopedia
Q. David Bowers
1896 Anna Williams Marries The Numismatist, May 1896, printed this item:
"To Marry A Goddess, the Young Lady Whose Profile Appears on Uncle Sam's Silver Dollars: The announcement that the Goddess of Liberty is about to be married has aroused new interest in the woman whose face is known to more people than that of any other woman of the American continent. Every man, woman or child who has a silver dollar carries the handsome profile of the Philadelphia schoolteacher, Miss Anna W. Williams. Her classic features have been stamped upon millions of silver disks.
"It is twenty years since the pretty blonde girl became world-famous. It was then stated that Miss Williams' profile was the original of the Goddess of Liberty on that much abused, much admired and equally much disliked Bland silver dollar. The friends of the young woman placed every obstacle in the way of possible identification, but tailed in their object. The story of how Miss Williams came to be the Goddess of Liberty may be retold, now that it is said she is soon to become a bride.
"In the early part of 1876 the Treasury Department secured through communication with the Royal Mint of England. The services of a clever young designer and engraver named George Morgan. Upon his arrival in this country Mr. Morgan was installed at the Philadelphia Mint and was assigned the task of making a design for the new silver dollar. After many months of labor the young engraver completed the design for the reverse side of the coin upon which he represented the American eagle. His attention was then turned to the other side, and his original inclination was to place on it a fanciful head representing the Goddess of Liberty. But the ambitious designer was too much of a realist to be satisfied with a mere product of fancy. Finally he determined the head should be the representation of some American girl and forthwith searched for his beauteous maid.
"It was a long search, although pleasant. He told his friends of his desires, and one of them spoke of the really classic beauty of Miss Anna Williams. The English designer was introduced to the girl. Mr. Morgan was at once impressed by her beautiful face and studied it carefully. Then he told her what he desired, and she promptly refused to permit herself to be the subject of the design. Her friends, however, induced her to pose before an artist. After five sittings the design was completed.
"Mr. Morgan was so enthusiastic that he declared Miss Williams' profile was the most nearly perfect he had seen in England or America. His design for the Bland silver dollar was accepted by Congress, and so the silver coins have been pouring from the mints all these years adorned with the stately face of a Quaker City maiden.
"Miss Williams is a decidedly modest young woman. She resides on Spring Garden Street, not far from the school in which for years she has been employed as an instructor in philosophy and methods in the kindergarten department. She is slightly below the average height, is rather plump, and is fair. She carries her figure with a stateliness rarely seen and the pose of the head is exactly as seen on the silver dollar. The features of Miss Williams are reproduced as faithfully as in a good photograph.-New York Mail and Express.
Requiem
The Numismatist, May 1926, carried another item on the former Anna Willess Williams:
"The Goddess of Standard Silver Dollar Dead: Miss Anna
W.Williams, of Philadelphia, a retired public school teacher whose profile was used in preparing a design of the standard silver dollar in 1878, died in her native city on April 17 . Death was due to apoplexy, induced by a fall she sustained last De-cember and she had been confined to her bed since.
"The statement has been frequently made that the head on the Standard silver dollar was that of Miss Williams. This statement is not strictly true, Miss Williams possessed a Grecian profile, which was considered almost ideal for a typical head of Liberty, and chiefly on that account she consented to pose for the engraver while preparing the design. This is borne out of the fact that the entire head is much more mature in appearance than would be expected in a girl 18 years old. That was her age at the time she posed.
"In 1876 George Morgan, an expert designer and engraver, was assigned to the duty of preparing the new design for a silver dollar that was to be issued. Thomas Eakins, a Philadelphia artist, was a friend of both Mr. Morgan and Miss Williams' family, and he had 'been thrown into contact with the young girl often while she was an art student. I It was at Mr. Eakins' suggestion that Mr. Morgan and Miss Williams friends finally prevailed upon her to pose for the profile that was to go upon the face of the new dollar. The sittings took place at the home of Mr. Eakins in November 1876. It was some time later that the cap with its sheath was decided upon as the ornamentation for the head.
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