Q. David Bowers
A Critique of the Design
The following is from Numismatic Art in America, Aesthetics of the United States Coinage, by Cornelius Vermeule, curator at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts:
"THE LIBERTY HEAD DOLLAR
"In the instance of the famous Liberty head or BlandAllison silver dollar of 1878, designed by George T. Morgan in his capacity as assistant to Chief Engraver William Barber, we have a direct conflict between the artist's own word that a Greco-Roman head provided the model and the apocryphal, romantic legend that a certain young lady was the model for the head of Liberty. Morgan wrote the director of the Mint November 1, 1876 about his studies for patterns which appeared in 1877, of half-dollar size, but from sketches enclosed as well as from the letter it is clear that Morgan had in mind the head of Liberty that was to be used on the 'Morgan' dollar of 1878. He wrote:
" 'I have your letter of yesterday in which you say I may proceed with the models according to my own judgment. I fully realize the responsibility and assure you they shall have my earnest attention.
" 'I have taken one to the Mint today for reduction-I have entered as a student at the Academy of Fine Arts-where I am making a profile study from a Greek figure which I feel will be useful in finishing the head of Liberty. I shall endeavor to get studies in nature for the Eagle-I have been considering the wreath on the reverse of the dime-although it could be improved by being more sharply & clearly defined, I have come to the conclusion myself that the wreath is too elaborate & complicated in so small a coin-I have therefore prepared a design of a wreath much simpler but I think it without novelty .... (As reprinted in "From the Mint Archives," The NUr mismatic Scrapbook Magazine, March 1966, p. 730.)
"In a later letter, early in 1877, Morgan describes how he has been working on the head of Liberty, 'making more of the cap and less of the hair.' (Ibid.) In addition to study of ancient sculptures, he indicates he has been looking at coins of other countries, including no doubt E.A. Oudine's ideal head for the French coinage of the Second Republic in 1848 and recently revived with the Third Republic in 1870.
"It can also be noted from ... snatches of correspondence [preserved in the National Archives]. .. that George T. Morgan was unsatisfied with the tradition of Peter the thenstuffed eagle at the Philadelphia Mint. The 'studies in nature' that he would seem to have procured for the eagle, however, must have had little effect on his oeuvre, for the bird on the reverse on the 1878 silver dollar is much more removed from reality than the creatures on some of the patterns for trade dollars in 1873. Some details, to be sure, like the broad tail betray ornithological researches, but in total substance the eagle with wings spreadis as heraldic as his early nineteenthcentury counterparts with the shields on their stomachs. Clearly, Morgan's dollar was a refreshing step away from the standard Gobrecht-styled seated Liberty and 'sandwichboard' eagle, but the decisive moment of revolution in American numismatic art had not yet arrived.
"The head on the obverse of the new dollar looms large, making almost too much sculptured or sculptural surface for the area involved. This was doubtless part of the reaction to decades of seated Liberties with their small heads. Lettering and stars, the latter six-pointed as was the tradition, offer nothing unusual, save perhaps that the motto is spaced out in handsome fashion around the head. This was a visual innovation of Barber and Morgan patterns in the 1870s. The borders on obverse and reverse are taken from Roman dentils, as had been the case with trade dollars earlier in the decade. On the reverse, the very open, relatively slender wreath is a successful bit of innovation, and the Victorian temper of the times is mirrored in the Gothic lettering used for the motto."
Silver Purchases
The Annual Report of the director of the Mint, 1878, contained the following:
"Silver Purchases: The director being charged with the supervision of the details of the purchases of silver bullion made by the secretary of the Treasury, it is proper that a brief account of the purchases should be submitted in this report.
"Purchases of silver bullion were made during the year under the provisions of the Specie Resumption Act and also the act to authorize the coinage of the standard silver dollar. Those made under the former act were for the requirements of the fractional coinage, and under the latter, for the coinage of the dollar.
"Purchases of bullion for the fractional coinage were made from time to time during the year until February 28, 1878, and amounted to 5,984,693.64 fme ounces, at a cost of $7,114,548,69, an average of 118.879 cents per ounce fine. The London rate for silver bullion during this period averaged 54.3107 pence per ounce, British standard, equivalent to 119.911 cents per ounce fine.
"At the date of the authorization of the standard silver dollar there was on hand in the Treasury and mints in fractional silver coins $6,253,624.76; and the demand for these coins being light, this amount was regarded as sufficient to meet any probable demand for some time to come, and the coinage of fractional silver was temporarily suspended and preparations made to work the mints to their full capacity in striking the dollar.
"Purchasing silver for the dollar coinage was commenced in March, and continued from time to time as advantageous offers of the same were made, or as the mints required additional bullion for their current work.
"The total amount purchased for the dollar coinage up to September 30 was 17,925,701.99 fine ounces, at a cost to the government of $12,057,369.17, an average cost of 117.47 cents per fine Ounce: The average London rate during this period was 53.1208 pence-which, calculated at the par-of exchange, is equivalent to 116.447 cents pel' fine ounce. In arriving at the parity of the London rate in all purchases that have been made, the price of sterling exchange is an element in the calculation. The average rate for sterling exchange from March to September, inclusive, was $4.88, at which rate the parity of 53.1208 pence is 116:77 cents per ounce fine:
"At the coining rate for standard silver dollars, $1.16-4/11 per standard ounce, the above amount purchased will produce' $23,176,665.19.
"All silver is purchased at its gold value, and of the amount paid for silver bullion for the dollar coinage, $7,672,792.95 was paid iii gold coin and $13,384,576.22 in standard silver dollars.'
"Soon after the passage of the act authorizing 'the coinage of the standard silver dollar, and an attempt: being made to procure the requisite balance for its coinage at the mint son the Pacific coast, it was found that the producers and dealers would not sell silver to the' government at the equivalent of the London rate, but demanded in addition thereto an amount equal to the cost of bringing It from London and laying it down' in San Francisco. (This was strictly an attempt to gouge the government. Silver was being produced in abundant quantities in Nevada, just 15 miles from the Carson City Mint and a convenient train journey to 'the' San Francisco Mint. Toe silver mining interests had great clout in Congress at the time and did not hesitate to pursue their financial interests, much as the military-industrial complex (to use Dwight D. Eisenhower's terminology) did beginning in the 1950s or earlier.)These terms being deemed exorbitant were rejected, and arrangements were immediately made to bring the capacity of the Mint at Philadelphia to its maximum with a view to meet the provisions of law, which required two millions of silver dollars to be coined in each month, and the available supplies of silver from domestic sources being entirely sufficient' for the coinage of this amount, the foreign market was indirectly resorted to and an amount sufficient to meet the requirements of law secured.
"In July 1878, the principal holders of bullion on the Pacific-coast receded from their position and accepted the equivalent of the London rate, at which price sufficient bullion was purchased to employ the mints at San Francisco and Carson on the coinage of the dollar. An purchases since made have been of domestic bullion."