1836 $1 J-60 Original, Alignment I PR55 Certification #50160806, PCGS #11225

`Never cleaned, NO hairlines, original toning: PQ! Silver. Plain Edge. Die Alignment I (head of Liberty opposite the DO in DOLLAR). This specimen is really quite exceptional as it was a normal practice for many decades for people to occasionally clean or polish their coins. In fact, the Gobrecht dollars that reside in the Smithsonian Collection, which were acquired from the U.S. Mint Collection, have been cleaned several times by Mint personnel. The present coin shows the effects of slight friction typical of circulation, illustrating that many Gobrecht dollars actually circulated within the channels of commerce, and therefore represent "business strikes" even though they were originally struck as proofs. In addition to the artistic depiction of Liberty and the natural appearance of the eagle, one of the most distinctive elements of this 1836 Gobrecht dollar is the flight of the eagle upward at a sharp angle. Mint Director Robert Maskell Patterson carefully communicated what he wanted to artist Titian Peale by specifying that the eagle fly "onward and upward." To Patterson the positioning of the eagle was symbolic of the young republic. During the two striking periods in December 1836, the eagle maintained its upward angle of flight. The difference between the two December striking periods is the presence of a scratch above the eagle's wing, pointing toward the AT of STATES, that appeared on the die before the second batch of 600 coins was struck late in that month. A coin in Die Alignment I which lacks that die scratch is from the first striking period, a batch of 400 coins. The third striking period, in March 1837, was a batch of 600 coins dated 1836. They are commonly described as having been struck with a medal alignment (or medal "turn"), rather than a coin alignment (or coin turn). The third striking period began as expected, however, the reverse die slowly rotated from the "onward and upward" position to eventually level. A few coins have even been observed with the eagle's head slightly below a level horizontal plane. Coins from the first striking period are found in high grade more often than those from late December, as many were saved as souvenirs. That statement must, of course, be understood in the general context of coins that were struck and the low percentage of coins that were actually saved from the 1830s. In December 1839 a mere 300 additional original Gobrecht dollars, dated 1839, were struck. These were given a reeded edge and a medal turn, and they also were released into circulation. The head of Liberty is opposite the O in OF in the reverse legend, which defines what is known as Die Alignment IV (i.e., eagle flying almost level after a rotation around the coin's vertical axis, or "medal turn"). If the reverse displays no die evidence of a die crack through AMERI that means it's an original 1839 dollar, according to the Gray-Carboneau classification. Today most 1839 dollars seen are restrikes from the late 1850s and 1860s.