By October 1795 he was on the mint's payroll, as a die forger and turner, at a salary of $500 per year. On January 1, 1796, Mint Director Elias Boudinot appointed him as assistant coiner, with the consent of President Washington. His duties in that capacity were broad. In 1805, at Boudinot's request, Eckfeldt eliminated a security problem for the Mint by renting two houses adjacent to its operations, allowing it to shut an internal alley to public access. The following year, new Mint Director Robert Patterson requested a pay increase of $200 for Eckfeldt, writing to President Thomas Jefferson that Eckfeldt had "the management of the whole coining department".
Coin designer and Mint official
Adam Eckfeldt
Adam Eckfeldt | Coin designer and Mint official
1793 1792 1793. 1793
who was adam eckfeldt?
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John Adam Eckfeldt was a worker and official of the United States Mint.
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when did he start designing coins?
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During Eckfeldt's childhood, the thirteen British colonies along the Atlantic coast of what is now the United States revolted, and so the United States of America secured its independence. After the United States Constitution was ratified, Congress and many government offices came to be housed in Philadelphia, including the newborn Mint of the United States. Adam Eckfeldt built the first screw press for the new facility in 1792, the same year that the Mint Act of 1792 was passed by Congress authorizing a mint, and cut the obverse die for the experimental Birch cent of that year. He also built other machinery for the Mint, and helped superintend the early coining.
Adam Eckfeldt | Coin designer and Mint official
Eckfeldt operated his screw press to strike these roughly 1,500 pieces on July 13, 1792. Since the first Philadelphia Mint was still under construction at the time, these coins were produced in the cellar of John Harper, saw maker, at Sixth and Cherry Streets in Philadelphia. In his annual message to Congress late that year, Washington noted the ongoing construction of a mint building and stated: "There has also been a small beginning in the coinage of half dismes, the want of small coins in circulation calling the first attention to them." Eckfeldt also produced a pattern disme, of which only a few were struck.
Adam Eckfeldt | Coin designer and Mint official
John Adam Eckfeldt (June 15, 1769 – February 6, 1852) was a worker and official in the early days of the United States Mint. A lifelong Philadelphian, Eckfeldt served as the second chief coiner of the Mint, from 1814 until 1839. Eckfeldt's father owned a large smithy and involved himself in early attempts at American coinage. Adam Eckfeldt built early presses for the Mint, engraved some of its early dies, and was responsible for the designs of early American copper coinage, as well as the 1792 half disme which some authorities consider the first United States coin. He was appointed assistant coiner of the Mint in 1796, and became chief coiner on his predecessor's death in 1814.
Adam Eckfeldt | Introduction
When the Mint's first cents (produced in 1793) were found to be excessively crude and attracted public ridicule, Eckfeldt was called upon to design replacements. He placed a wreath on the back of the cent instead of the original chain, and placed a trefoil under Liberty's head on the obverse. He also engraved the first half cent dies later the same year. Eckfeldt continued to work intermittently for the Philadelphia Mint; in 1793, he built a device for automatically feeding planchets into the die collar and ejecting the struck coins, and the mint's records reveal that he did piecework there in July 1795.
Adam Eckfeldt | Coin designer and Mint official
Eckfeldt served a quarter century as chief coiner, during which time the Philadelphia Mint moved to new premises. As he set aside unusual coins brought in as bullion, he started the Mint's coin cabinet, which evolved into the National Numismatic Collection. Even after his 1839 retirement, Eckfeldt continued to perform the duties of chief coiner; his death in 1852 caused his replacement, Franklin Peale, to seek an assistant.
Adam Eckfeldt | Introduction
By October 1795 he was on the mint's payroll, as a die forger and turner, at a salary of $500 per year. On January 1, 1796, Mint Director Elias Boudinot appointed him as assistant coiner, with the consent of President Washington. His duties in that capacity were broad. In 1805, at Boudinot's request, Eckfeldt eliminated a security problem for the Mint by renting two houses adjacent to its operations, allowing it to shut an internal alley to public access. The following year, new Mint Director Robert Patterson requested a pay increase of $200 for Eckfeldt, writing to President Thomas Jefferson that Eckfeldt had "the management of the whole coining department".
Adam Eckfeldt | Coin designer and Mint official
When the dies used proved too brittle and cracked easily, Eckfeldt came up with the idea of spraying water on the face of the die so the steel would temper evenly.
Adam Eckfeldt | Coin designer and Mint official
In 1792, the Mint acquired three balances from Eckfeldt, who also lent the Mint his lathe (used for turning dies). Eckfeldt is believed to have made the die from which the 1792 half disme, considered by some the first official U.S. coin, was struck—in 1829, a visitor to the Mint met Eckfeldt and later described him as "an artist [who] made the first die used in it". Other later accounts document Eckfeldt's role in this striking: an 1863 auction sold a half disme supposedly given by Eckfeldt to demonstrate his work. Eckfeldt is given as the source for the tradition that the half dismes were struck at the request of President George Washington to be used as presents.
Adam Eckfeldt | Coin designer and Mint official
The new mint building was at Juniper and Chestnut Streets, only six blocks from Eckfeldt's home at Juniper and Vine.
Adam Eckfeldt | Chief coiner
In response, parliamentary law ordered close examination of the weight and fineness of coins worldwide, which determined that coins produced in the United States were more uniform than the coins of other nations, a finding which enhanced Eckfeldt's worldwide reputation as an assayer. Appointed to his post during Andrew Jackson's presidency, Eckfeldt held that position until his death.
Jacob R. Eckfeldt | Formative years
On the death of the first chief coiner, Henry Voigt, in early 1814, Eckfeldt was appointed by President James Madison as successor. He served in that capacity for a quarter century. During his tenure, he continued to improve the machinery at the Philadelphia Mint. Eckfeldt set aside "master coins"—coins struck with extra care using new dies and polished planchets. He also put aside interesting foreign coins sent to the mint as bullion. These pieces became the Mint's Cabinet, or coin collection. To fill gaps in this collection, he used old dies to strike postdated coins. Specialists have discovered that some dies he chose for this purpose had not been used together to strike coins for commerce, thus creating unique specimens.
Adam Eckfeldt | Chief coiner
Among the pieces acquired for the Mint was a Brasher doubloon, of which only six are known today. Eckfeldt often spent from his own funds to acquire the coins for the Mint. The collection eventually evolved into the Smithsonian Institution's National Numismatic Collection. In 1828, Eckfeldt again became involved in the real estate transactions to expand operations at the Philadelphia Mint. For $1,000, he purchased one of the lots he had rented in 1805. After the mint moved to new premises in the 1830s, Eckfeldt discovered that the lot he had purchased had a cloud, or irregularity, on its title; he was able to clear it and sold it in 1837 for the same sum for which he had bought it.
Adam Eckfeldt | Chief coiner
The coin design had not been approved by Congress. Coin production on a large scale did not begin until 1793. Rittenhouse resigned from the Mint on June 30, 1795, due to poor health. In 1871 Congress approved a commemorative medal in his honor.
David Rittenhouse | United States Mint
Born in Philadelphia in March 1803, Jacob R. Eckfeldt was a son of Adam Eckfeldt, chief coiner at the United States Mint. He followed his father into the same area of government service, entering the U.S. Mint during an early period in his life. He then steadily worked his way up at the Mint until becoming chief assayer. During his tenure, he reported problems with certain lots of English sovereigns that had been sent to the mint for recoinage, noting that these particular lots fell below the Mint's standard. Denied by English authorities as "impossible" because the London mint "makes no mistakes," Eckfeldt was vindicated by the resulting investigation which confirmed Eckfeldt's findings.
Jacob R. Eckfeldt | Formative years
Though the designer of the coin is unknown, artist Gilbert Stuart is widely acknowledged to have been its creator; Mint Director James Ross Snowden began researching the early history of the United States Mint and its coinage in the 1850s, during which time he interviewed descendants of Stuart who claimed that their ancestor was the designer. It has been suggested that Philadelphia socialite Ann Willing Bingham posed as the model for the coin. Several sketches were approved by Mint engraver Robert Scot and de Saussure and sent to President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson to gain their approval.
Draped Bust dollar | Design
David Rittenhouse was treasurer of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1789, and with these skills and the help of George Washington, he became the first director of the United States Mint. On April 2, 1792, the United States Mint opened its doors, but would not produce coins for almost four months. Rittenhouse believed that the design of the coin made the coin a piece of artwork. The first coins were made from flatware that was provided by Washington himself on the morning of July 30, 1792. The coins were hand-struck by Rittenhouse, to test the new equipment, and were given to Washington as a token of appreciation for his contributions to making the United States Mint a reality.
David Rittenhouse | United States Mint
Robert Scot was commissioned Chief Engraver of the United States Mint on November 23, 1793, after the tragic death of non-commissioned engraver Joseph Wright from the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. To continue his obligations for Dobson's "Encyclopædia", Samuel Allardice was made partner with Scot, and the engraving firm of Scot & Allardice would utilize apprentices to finish a large number of book illustrations until their partnership ended in 1796. The Coinage Act of 1792 mandated design requirements for United States coins, including an obverse "emblematic of liberty" and a reverse with "the figure or representation of an eagle." Scot's initial coinage designs included the Liberty Cap half cent and the Flowing Hair silver coins.
Robert Scot | Chief Engraver of the United States Mint
During the years 1807-1817, Assistant Engraver John Reich was employed by the United States Mint, and engraved the coin designs of those years. Robert Scot did all of the coinage die engraving at the United States Mint from Reich's resignation until his death in 1823.
Robert Scot | Chief Engraver of the United States Mint
Jacob Reese Eckfeldt (March 1803-August 9, 1872) was an assayer for the United States Mint in Philadelphia.
Jacob R. Eckfeldt | Introduction
Eckfeldt married twice. No children were born of his brief first marriage in 1792 to Maria Hahn, which ended with her death; his second marriage to Margaretta Bausch produced six children. Among them were his daughter Susanna, who married William Ewing DuBois, first curator of the Mint's coin collection. Jacob Reese Eckfeldt, one of Adam's sons, was for forty years (1832–1872) Assayer of the United States Mint. Jacob's son Jacob Branch Eckfeldt exceeded both forebears in time of service, working at the Mint for 64 years, from 1865 to 1929. Adam Eckfeldt had a taste for horticulture and owned rural property in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, which was inherited by his two sons after his death.
Adam Eckfeldt | Private and family life
In 1795, Scot engraved designs for the first gold coins of the U.S. Mint that included a drapery for Miss Liberty. The drapery was continued with silver coins starting in 1795, with the famous Draped Bust design. After several reverse issues for silver and gold coins with small eagle designs, Scot introduced the Heraldic Eagle reverse in 1796, a modification of the Great Seal of the United States. Upon request, Robert Scot penned a four page letter to Congress in 1795 outlining his responsibilities as Chief Engraver. Robert Scot received a salary of $1200 for each year that he was employed by the United States Mint.
Robert Scot | Chief Engraver of the United States Mint
In 1820, he became an assistant to his father at the museum, and managed it after Charles Peale's death in 1827. In 1833, Peale was hired by the Mint, and was sent for two years to Europe to study and report back on coining techniques. He returned with plans for improvement, and designed the first steam-powered coinage press in the United States, installed in 1836. Peale was made Melter and Refiner of the Philadelphia Mint that year, and Chief Coiner three years later upon the retirement of the incumbent, Adam Eckfeldt, who continued in his work without pay. Eckfeldt's labor allowed Peale to run a medal business using Mint property.
Franklin Peale | Introduction
Taxay noted that this was only true because the retired Adam Eckfeldt was still performing the duties of that office without salary, and this ceased in February 1852 when Eckfeldt died after a brief illness. The death of his predecessor caused Peale to write "a frantic letter" to the new Mint Director (Patterson had retired), George N. Eckert, stating that he urgently needed an assistant.
Franklin Peale | Downfall
Most coin collectors became aware of the 1804 dollar in 1842, when Jacob R. Eckfeldt (son of Adam Eckfeldt) and William E. Du Bois published a book entitled "A Manual of Gold and Silver Coins of All Nations, Struck Within the Past Century". In the volume, several coins from the Mint's coin cabinet, including an 1804 dollar, were reproduced by tracing a pantograph stylus over an electrotype of the coins. In May 1843, numismatist Matthew A. Stickney was able to obtain an 1804 dollar from the Mint's coin cabinet by trading a rare pre-federal United States gold coin. Due to an increase in the demand for rare coins, Mint officials, including Director Snowden, began minting an increasing number of coin restrikes in the 1850s.
Draped Bust dollar | Collecting
The Mint began preparation for the reduced-diameter dollar coin in 1976. Although no legislation had yet been introduced, Treasury officials anticipated a positive reception from Congress, and the coin had near unanimous support from the Mint and the vending machine industry, an influential lobby in the area of coin design and creation. In 1977, Treasury Secretary Michael Blumenthal publicly endorsed a smaller dollar coin and suggested that an allegorical representation of Liberty would be a suitable subject for the coin. Chief Engraver Gasparro was tasked with creating a design for the proposed coin. His obverse design depicted a bust of Liberty, while his reverse depicted a soaring eagle.
Susan B. Anthony dollar | Liberty design
While working with the U.S. Mint, his 18 designs have been accepted for new coins and medals.
Joel Iskowitz | Transition to coins and medals
Christian Gobrecht (December 23, 1785 – July 23, 1844) was the third Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1840 until his death in 1844. He was responsible for designing the famous "Seated Liberty" designs, which were in turn the direct inspiration for the design of the Trade Dollar. He also designed the Gobrecht Dollar, which was struck in small quantities from 1836 to 1838 and later inspired the Flying Eagle cent. He also designed the obverse sides for the Liberty head (aka Coronet Head) Quarter Eagle, Half Eagle, and Eagle gold coins, as well as the "braided hair" type Half cent and Large cent coins.
Christian Gobrecht | Introduction
After approval was received, the designs were sent to artist John Eckstein to be rendered into plaster models; during that time, plaster models were used as a guide to cutting the dies, which was done by hand. Eckstein, who was dismissed by Walter Breen as a "local artistic hack" and described by a contemporary artist as a "thorough-going drudge" due to his willingness to carry out most painting or sculptural tasks at the request of clients, was paid thirty dollars for his work preparing models for both the obverse Liberty and reverse eagle and wreath. After the plaster models were created, the engravers of the Philadelphia Mint (including Scot) began creating hubs that would be used to make dies for the new coins.
Draped Bust dollar | Design
As early as 1914, Victor David Brenner, designer of the Lincoln cent, submitted unsolicited designs for the silver coins. He was told in response that Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo was completely occupied with other matters. On , an interview with Philadelphia Mint Superintendent Adam M. Joyce appeared in the "Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record":
Walking Liberty half dollar | Inception
Later, in 1835, Mint officials began preparations for a series of silver dollars which, unlike the 1804 dollar, were intended to enter circulation in order to determine whether the denomination would be well received by the public. In June 1835, Moore resigned his post as director, and was replaced by Robert M. Patterson. Shortly thereafter, Director Patterson approached two well-known Philadelphia artists, Titian Peale and Thomas Sully, to create a design that would be used to overhaul most of the American coins then in production. Mint Chief Engraver Kneass prepared a sketch based on Patterson's conception, but soon suffered a stroke, leaving him partially incapacitated.
Gobrecht dollar | Design
He designed and modeled John Quincy Adams, the sixth coin in the series, and modeled the fourth, a James Madison obverse. He designed and modeled Dolly Madison obverse for the First Spouse gold coin, 2007, Elizabeth Monroe obverse, 2008, and modeled the Martha Washington reverse. U.S. commemorative coins he has designed or modeled include the obverse portrait of the Benjamin Franklin Founding Father silver dollar, 2006; Little Rock Central High School Desegregation silver dollar reverse, 2007; Jamestown 400th Anniversary silver dollar obverse, 2007; the Bald Eagle Silver Dollar obverse, 2008 the $5 Gold Bald Eagle reverse.
Don Everhart | Coin models for mints
Stoudt supplied the concept for the coins, as well as sketches. Rather than seeking a private designer to produce plaster models, the Huguenot-Walloon commission approached the Mint's chief engraver, George T. Morgan, who turned 78 in 1923. Morgan, best remembered for his 1878 design for the Morgan dollar, had been chief engraver since 1917, following forty years as an assistant, mostly under Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. Both Barber and Morgan felt that coins should be designed by the Mint's engravers, and were sometimes hostile when private sculptors were engaged to do the work. Morgan's models were transmitted on October 26, 1923, to the Commission of Fine Arts, charged with rendering advisory opinions on coins by a 1921 executive order by President Harding.
Huguenot-Walloon half dollar | Preparation
As early as 1914, Victor David Brenner, designer of the Lincoln cent, submitted unsolicited designs for the silver coins. He was told, in response, that Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo was completely occupied with other matters. On January 2, 1915, an interview with Philadelphia Mint Superintendent Adam M. Joyce appeared in the "Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record":
Standing Liberty quarter | Inception
Cleveland is credited with fifteen designs for United States coins and medals. His most notable work is the reverse design of the 2007 American Platinum Eagle. Cleveland’s full United States Mint Coin Design Credits are:
Thomas S. Cleveland | Work
President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904 expressed his dissatisfaction with the artistic state of American coins, and hoped to hire sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to beautify them. Saint-Gaudens, before his death in 1907, designed a new eagle and double eagle, which entered circulation that year; the cent, quarter eagle, and half eagle were redesigned by other artists and were released into circulation by 1909. That year, Mint Director Frank Leach instructed Barber to make pattern coins for new nickels. Most of these coins featured the first president, George Washington. However, the project was discontinued when Leach left office on November 1, 1909, to be replaced by Abram Andrew.
Nickel (United States coin) | Buffalo or Indian Head (1913–1938)
When Adam Eckfeldt retired in 1839, he recommended Peale as his successor. As the Senate was not sitting, Peale was given a recess appointment as Chief Coiner of the Philadelphia Mint by President Martin Van Buren on March 27, 1839. On January 23, 1840, after the Senate reconvened, Van Buren nominated Peale; the Senate gave its approval on February 17. Despite his retirement, Eckfeldt continued to come to the mint every day until shortly before his death in February 1852, performing the function of Chief Coiner and leaving Peale with time on his hands. Soon after his appointment, Peale began to engage in a private business on the Mint's premises.
Franklin Peale | Appointment and early years
On May 18, 1936, the DSTC's general secretary, George Ryden, wrote to the Assistant Director of the Mint, Mary M. O'Reilly, requesting procedural information, stating that the commission might order as many as 50,000 coins in two tranches, and informing her that the DSTC planned to elect the design for the coin by open competition. This was not the usual way of proceeding for a committee charged with finding a design for a commemorative, who more usually picked an artist by other means. The competition was judged by Mint Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock and noted sculptor Dr. Robert Tait McKenzie.
Delaware Tercentenary half dollar | Preparation
Everhart modeled coins of realm for foreign governments at the Franklin Mint for coin sets sold to collectors. Countries he did work for include Guyana, The Philippine Islands, Panama, Jamaica, The Netherlands Antilles, Papua New Guinea, Barbados, and Cook Islands. For the United States Mint, (2004 – present), he created (designed and modeled) Statehood Quarter reverses for Nevada, Hawaii, New Mexico, and has modeled California, Montana and Idaho designed by other artists. Other circulating coins include the 2005 nickel obverse profile of Thomas Jefferson, the first new obverse design on the nickel in 67 years. For the new U.S. Presidential Dollar series, beginning in 2007, he designed and modeled the Statue of Liberty reverse to appear on all issues.
Don Everhart | Coin models for mints
Tanner designed a sixpence for the Royal Mint during the reign of King George II, the coin became popularly known as the "tanner" and this appellation preserved until decimalisation in 1971.
John Sigismund Tanner | Introduction
In September 1836, Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt began sinking the working dies that would be used to strike the coins. However, before production could begin, Patterson ordered that Gobrecht's name be added to the dollar. His name appeared as "C. GOBRECHT F", short for "Christian Gobrecht Fecit", meaning "Christian Gobrecht made it". The Gobrecht dollar was first struck in December 1836. Several pieces were produced and distributed throughout Philadelphia. Despite a positive reception for the overall design, many criticized the prominent display of Gobrecht's name on the coin. Gobrecht requested that his name be removed entirely from the face of the coin; instead, the engraver was instructed to change its size and placement at the behest of Patterson.
Gobrecht dollar | Production
In 1794, Congress lowered the chief coiner's bond to $5,000 and the assayer's to $1,000, and President Washington's appointees to those positions were able to qualify and take office. Silver coinage began that year. The first deposit of gold to be struck into coins was made at the Mint in February 1795, by Moses Brown of Boston. Around May 1795, the first Mint director, David Rittenhouse, set engraver Robert Scot the task of preparing dies for an issue of gold coins. Rittenhouse resigned in June, before the work came to fruition, and was replaced by Henry deSaussure. The new director took office on July 9, 1795, and pressed to have the gold coin project completed with great speed.
Turban Head eagle | Inception
The problem was found on the pattern half dollars as well. On , von Engelken wrote to Assistant Secretary Malburn, using information that Burdette suggests came from Barber: Von Engelken's letter caused concern in the Secretary's office—McAdoo feared that if the Mint proved unable to successfully issue new coins, the Republicans might exploit the failure as an issue in the presidential race. The Secretary enquired how long it would take "our Mr. Barber" to produce new designs; after consultation with officials at the Philadelphia Mint, von Engelken replied that it would take six to eight months. The two officials decided that Weinman must be asked to modify his design for the half dollar—it was hoped that if Weinman shrank the figure of Liberty, and lowered the relief, the piece would prove coinable.
Walking Liberty half dollar | Modification
No congressional action was required, though the committees of each house with jurisdiction over the coinage were informed. Creating the new design was the responsibility of Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock, who had been in his position since 1925. Much of the work in preparing the new coin was done by Sinnock's assistant, later chief engraver Gilroy Roberts. In early October 1945, Sinnock submitted models to Assistant Director of the Mint F. Leland Howard (then acting as director), who transmitted them to the Commission of Fine Arts. This commission reviews coin designs because it was tasked by a 1921 executive order by President Warren G.
Roosevelt dime | Inception and preparation
In the mid-1920s the first series of Irish Free State coinage was planned, and was finally launched in 1928. Sheppard was one of the designers short-listed but his designs were not accepted.
Oliver Sheppard | Coin designs
On , Woolley wrote Weinman that the designs, both for the dime and half dollar, were accepted by the Mint. During June, the Mint's engraving department, headed by Barber, reduced the models to coin-sized hubs and prepared dies for experimental pattern coins, which were subsequently struck. Woolley hoped to begin production of the new coins of all three denominations by , but the grant of time to Weinman required the Mint to act with greater speed. Burdette suggests the haste with which the dies were prepared caused coins struck with them to appear worn and without sharp detail. By , Weinman had viewed the first patterns, as he wrote to Woolley stating that he did not like the way the word "Liberty" on the obverse had turned out, and asking for the loan of two patterns so he could redo the lettering.
Walking Liberty half dollar | Preparation
Gasparro was hired by the United States Mint in December 1942 under Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock. Gasparro's first major successful coin design was his redesign of the reverse of the Lincoln cent as part of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, while he was Assistant Engraver at the Philadelphia Mint. Gasparro's design was selected from a group of 23 designs prepared by the Mint's engraving staff to replace the Wheat cent produced by the Mint faurom 1909 to 1958. His original design included the words "Lincoln Memorial" and 13 stars around the rim of the coin, which he removed at the request of staff at the Mint.
Frank Gasparro | Mint career
Rittenhouse was dissatisfied with Eckfeldt's designs, and with the criticism of the Chain cents fresh in his mind, he hired Joseph Wright to do yet another redesign in the denomination's troubled first year. Wright's design faced Liberty to the right and "tamed" her wild hair. The Phrygian cap was added as an ancient symbol of freedom. The reverse design was revised to a recognizable laurel wreath, and future Chief Engraver Robert Scot had a hand in several minor revisions to the design over the next three years. This design was more successful and it was continued into 1796. In 1795, planchets became too thin for the edge lettering because of a weight reduction, so the mint stopped edge lettering on the cent, and the rest of these coins were made with a plain edge.
Large cent | Liberty Cap cents (1793–1796)
It is unknown what prompted this change or who suggested it, though numismatic historian R.W. Julian speculates that Henry William de Saussure, who was named Director of the Mint on July 9, 1795, may have suggested it, as he had stated a redesign of the American coinage as one of his goals before taking office. It is also possible that the Flowing Hair design was discontinued owing to much public disapproval.
Draped Bust dollar | Background
Iskowitz has an extensive portfolio of designs which the U.S. Mint has produced into coins and medals. As of 2016, the mint has accepted more than 50 of his designs. His recent work includes design of the obverse of the New York Medal honoring the fallen of September 11, one of three Congressional Gold Medals awarded to the Fallen Heroes of September 11, 2001, on September 11, 2014, in accordance with the authorizing legislation, Public Law 112-76, the Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act. The reverse design for the Dolley Madison First Spouse Gold Coin was created by Iskowitz and was displayed in the East Room of the White House for the release ceremony which the artist attended.
Joel Iskowitz | United States Mint work
William Kneass ( "niece"; September 25, 1780 – August 27, 1840) was the second Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1824 until his death in 1840. Kneass is credited with designing the "Classic Head" motif, which appeared on numerous denominations of American currency, including the gold quarter eagle ($2.50) and half eagle ($5.00) gold pieces from 1834 to 1839. He also modified John Reich's "Capped Bust" design for use on the half dime through half-dollar from 1829 to 1837.
William Kneass | Introduction
Throughout the year of 1872, the Mint struck a series of commercial dollar patterns in anticipation of the passage of the coinage bill. Production of patterns continued into 1873, but the denomination of the pattern coins was changed from "commercial dollar" to "trade dollar" before the bill was signed into law. After passage of the Coinage Act, Linderman met with Director of the Mint James Pollock to discuss the design of the newly authorized trade dollar. The two men agreed to request a jewelry and engraving firm, Bailey Banks & Biddle of Philadelphia, to create designs that would be compared to those already created by Chief Engraver William Barber.
Trade dollar (United States coin) | Design selection
Leech had spoken with Saint-Gaudens on the same subject; the sculptor stated that only four men in the world were capable of executing high-quality coin designs; three lived in France and he was the fourth. Leech announced the decision to have Barber do the work in July, stating that he had instructed the engraver to prepare designs for presentation to Secretary of the Treasury Charles Foster. In a letter printed in the "New York Tribune", Gilder expressed disappointment that the Mint was planning to generate the new designs in-house, feeling that the Mint, essentially a factory for coins, was ill-equipped to generate artistic coin designs.
Barber coinage | Preparation
Charles Edward Barber (November 16, 1840 – February 18, 1917) was the sixth chief engraver of the United States Mint from 1879 until his death in 1917. He had a long and fruitful career in coinage, designing most of the coins produced at the mint during his time as chief engraver. He did full coin designs, and he designed about 30 medals in his lifetime. The Barber coinage were named after him. In addition, Barber designed a number of commemorative coins, some in partnership with assistant engraver George T. Morgan. For the popular Columbian half dollar, and the Panama-Pacific half dollar and quarter eagle, Barber designed the obverse and Morgan the reverse.
Charles E. Barber | Introduction
Erich Ott (born 3 December 1944 in Oberammergau, Germany) is a German sculptor, engraver, and designer. He is best known for his design of numerous German commemorative coins and designed
Erich Ott | Introduction
According to Burdette, "agitation to replace Barber's banal 1892 Liberty head began almost before the first coins were cold from the press." In 1894, the American Numismatic and Antiquarian Society, in conjunction with various artistic and educational institutes, began to advocate for better designs for U.S. coins, but no change took place in the remainder of the 19th century. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt started to push for improvements to U.S. coins, and arranged for the Mint to engage Saint-Gaudens to redesign coins which could be changed under the 1890 act. Before his death in 1907, the sculptor provided designs for the double eagle and eagle, though the double eagle required adjustment by Barber to lower the relief before it could be released as a circulating coin.
Barber coinage | Replacement
Then I got much more sophisticated—I got the guy who did the gumball machines at the drugstore to sell me all the coins. Now we started to get this thing organized! I could sort through large quantities. I was 12." He soon branched out into the area of American colonial coinage and political memorabilia, and later wrote several reference works in this field.
Kenneth W. Rendell | Early life
Donald Nelson Everhart II (born August 19, 1949 in York, Pennsylvania) is an American coin and medal engraver-medalist, and sculptor who has worked for the private Franklin Mint, as a freelance designer, and since 2004 has worked for the United States Mint in Philadelphia. With over 1,000 models for coins and medals attributed to him as of 2008, he is still at the prime of his career creating the bas-relief models for these and similar sculptural objects. His coin designs are in the pockets of American citizens, and despite his late arrival to the series of the popular U.S. Statehood Quarters, he has designed and modeled three State's unique reverse designs, modeled three others, and six U.S.
Don Everhart | Introduction
Curtis was well aware of the difficulties with the Mint's failed competition for new silver coins in 1891, which had led to the issuance of the Barber coinage, designed by Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. The new coins were widely criticized, and Curtis counseled Ellsworth to gain control of the commemorative coin's design process, to ensure both a better design and the use of the Lotto portrait. No United States coin had depicted an actual person, although the goddess of Liberty had often been portrayed. By May 1892, it was apparent that additional funds were needed to complete the fair's buildings.
Columbian half dollar | Inception
Three days before the signing of the 1890 act, Barber wrote to the superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint, Oliver Bosbyshell, setting forth proposed terms of a competition to select new coin designs. Barber suggested that entrants be required to submit models, as opposed to drawings, and that the designs be in low relief, which was used for coins. He proposed that the entries include the lettering and denomination, as submissions without them would not adequately show the appearance of the finished coin. He received a reply that due to other work, the Mint would not be able to address the question until the spring of 1891.
Barber coinage | Inception
Hendershott started collecting coins at age 12, finding half cents, large cents, two-cent pieces, half dimes and other obsolete coinage still in circulation." He was one of the key organizers of the Tampa Coin Club and Florida United Numismatists, serving as president of both organizations. Hendershott received the American Numismatic Association's Farran Zerbe Memorial Award for Distinguished Service.
Robert L. Hendershott | Numismatics
Friedrich Johannes Hugo "F. H." von Engelken (1881–1930) was Director of the United States Mint from 1916 to 1917.
Friedrich Johannes Hugo von Engelken | Introduction
John Adam Eckfeldt was born in Philadelphia on June 15, 1769, the son of John Jacob Eckfeldt, a large-scale manufacturer of edge-tools and implements. At the time, it was common for those of German descent to bear the first name "John" but be referred to by middle name. The elder Eckfeldt and his wife Maria Magdalena had immigrated from Nuremberg, Bavaria, around 1764. John Jacob Eckfeldt, in his large smithy, made dies for the 1783 coinage under the Articles of Confederation authorized by Philadelphia financier Robert Morris. Adam was his father's apprentice, and became skilled in iron work and machinery.
Adam Eckfeldt | Early life
Frustrated at the competition's outcome, Leech on June 11, 1891 instructed Barber to prepare designs for the half dollar, quarter, and dime. As the Morgan dollar was then being heavily struck, the Mint director decided to leave that design unaltered for the time being. For the obverse of the new coins, Leech suggested a depiction of Liberty similar to that on the French coins of the period; he was content that the current reverses be continued. Leech had previously suggested to Barber that he engage outside help if the work was to be done at the Mint; the chief engraver replied that he was aware of no one who could be of help in the preparation of new designs.
Barber coinage | Preparation
Brooks, in a letter to Smith, stated that the design for the quarter was "sufficiently original" to impress the National Sculpture Society. Weinman later deprecated the winning designs: I really don't think what we got was a great bargain. Nothing we selected was a real winner that I'd fight to the death for. In terms of what we had to work with, though, I think we did the best we could. On April 24, 1974, the three winning designers were brought to Washington, D.C. After a tour of the White House and meetings with the congressional committees which considered the coin bills, they went to the Treasury Building and received their $5,000 checks from the new Treasury Secretary, William E.
United States Bicentennial coinage | Preparation
On May 4, 1911, Eames MacVeagh, son of Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh wrote to his father: Soon after the MacVeagh letter, Andrew announced that the Mint would solicit new designs for the nickel. Sculptor James Earle Fraser, who had been an assistant to Saint-Gaudens, approached the Mint, and rapidly produced concepts and designs. Mint Director George Roberts, who had returned to office in place of Andrew, initially favored a design featuring Lincoln, but Fraser soon developed a design featuring a Native American on one side and a bison on the other. Secretary MacVeagh wrote, "Tell him that of the three sketches which he submitted we would like to use the sketch of the head of the Indian and the sketch of the buffalo." In July 1912, news of the new nickel became public, and coin-operated machine manufacturers sought information.
Nickel (United States coin) | Buffalo or Indian Head (1913–1938)
The Barber dime is named for its designer, Charles E. Barber, who was Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint from 1879 to 1917. The design was shared with the quarter and half-dollar of the same period. Extensive internal politics surrounded the awarding of the design job, which had initially been opened to the public. A four-member committee (which included Barber), appointed by then-Mint Director James Kimball, accorded only two of more than 300 submissions an honorable mention. Kimball's successor, Edward O. Leech, decided to dispense with the committees and public design competitions and simply instructed Barber to develop a new design.
Dime (United States coin) | Barber (1892–1916)
Joe Fitzgerald (born in Washington, D.C.) is an American artist and graphic designer. He is one of two designers of the 2005 United States nickel. His design, "President Jefferson with Handwritten Liberty", appears on the obverse of that coin. Fitzgerald is a painter, who has had numerous one-man-shows. His work has also been exhibited in the U.S. State Department's Art in Embassies Program. He was one of twenty-four artists selected to create new designs under the United States Mint's Artistic Infusion Program. Fitzgerald retired in 2005 as the chief of graphics at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.
Joe Fitzgerald (coin designer) | Introduction
According to numismatic author Don Taxay, preparations for the coin must have begun soon after the authorization was signed, for on July 20, 1936, Franck R. Havenner, the chair of the San Francisco Citizen's Celebration Committee, wrote to Assistant Director of the Mint Mary M. O'Reilly. Havenner had some procedural questions, sent information on the selected artist for the coin, Jacques Schnier, and enclosed photographs of the chosen design. These were sent to the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), responsible under a 1921 executive order by President Warren G. Harding for rendering advisory opinions on public artworks, including coins. On July 31, the CFA chair, Charles Moore, wrote to Havenner relaying the suggestion of the CFA's sculptor-member, Lee Lawrie, that the lettering in the design be made larger.
San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge half dollar | Preparation
Much of what is known of the design process for the three-dollar piece is from an August 21, 1858, letter from the Mint's chief engraver, James B. Longacre, the coin's designer, to the then-Mint director, James Ross Snowden. This letter is apparently in response to some criticism, and in it, Longacre discussed his views on coin design, especially regarding the three-dollar piece. He noted that he was initially perplexed as to what to put on the coin; the three-dollar piece was the first time he had been allowed to choose a design. Although he had designed the three-cent piece and other issues before Snowden's directorship, he had been told what to put on those pieces.
Three-dollar piece | Preparation and design
Mint. He struck the official portraits of Presidents James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. He also executed the first recorded American Jewish medal, to commemorate the death in 1816 of the patriot and religious leader Gershom Seixas.
Moritz Fuerst | Introduction
Barber designed a series of patterns that were designed to do just that, including the so-called "Sailor Head" and "Liberty at the Seashore" designs. He also created two different wreath designs and one shield design for the reverse. However, Mint Director H.R. Linderman mandated that Barber instead use the Liberty Seated design with an eagle on the reverse, thus dooming the coin to failure. The double dime saw circulation only in 1875 and 1876, with proofs struck in 1877 and 1878.
William Barber (engraver) | Biography
In 1876, Director of the Mint Henry Linderman began efforts to redesign the nation's silver coins. Linderman contacted C.W. Fremantle, Deputy Master of the Royal Mint in London, requesting him to "find a first class die-sinker who would be willing to take the position of Assistant Engraver at the Mint at Philadelphia." In response to Linderman's request, Fremantle wrote "My inquiries as to an Assistant Engraver lead me very strongly to recommend for the post Mr. George Morgan, age 30, who has made himself a considerable name, but for whom there is not much opening at present in this country." An agreement was reached between Linderman and Morgan for the engraver to work at the Philadelphia Mint under Chief Engraver William Barber on a six-month trial basis.
Morgan dollar | Design history
After a competition among artists who submitted designs: Nicholas Guy Antoine Brenet (1773-1846), André Galle (1761-1844), Romain-Vincent Jeuffroy (1749-1826), the design by the Swiss, Jean-Pierre Droz (1746-1823) was selected. The coins were the work of Joseph Pierre Tiolier (1763-1819), who was appointed Chief Engraver of the Paris Mint on 1 April 1803. There were no reducing machines at the time and the entirety of the engraver's work was completed by directly cutting into the die face with punches and gravers. In Year XI the government invested in a different method of minting pioneered by Jean-Pierre-Joseph Darcet (1777-1844). And in 1807, new minting equipment was introduced under the supervision of Philippe Joachim Gengembre (1764-1838), Inspector General of the Mints.
Napoléon (coin) | Notes on varieties of Napoleon coins
The Massachusetts Bay Colony established a mint in Boston in 1652. John Hull was Treasurer and mintmaster; Hull's partner at the "Hull Mint" was Robert Sanderson. The historical marker reads: The first authorization for the establishment of a mint in the United States was in a resolution of the Congress of the Confederation of February 21, 1782, and the first general-circulation coin of the United States, the Fugio cent, was produced in 1787 based on the Continental dollar. The current United States Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and originally placed within the Department of State.
United States Mint | History
All coins (copper and silver) bore the same obverse. Robert Scot, Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint, 1793–1823, transformed a portrait of a society lady by Gilbert Stuart into a rather buxom Ms. Liberty. Some accounts identify the woman as Philadelphia socialite Ann Willing Bingham. She remained essentially unchanged for several years with the exception of an extra curl added to her flowing locks in 1798.
Draped Bust | Obverse
In 1729, the Master of the Mint admitted, with some apprehension, that John Croker, Chief Engraver to the Mint since 1705, was then "the only man now living who has hitherto made Puncheons for the Head on the Coin" and recommended the appointment of an assistant in the shape of Tanner, then aged only 24. When Croker died on 21 March 1741, Tanner succeeded him. After 1739 he engraved most of the dies for the coins of George II and George III. Tanner died on 14 March 1775, after retiring from the Mint.
John Sigismund Tanner | Life
Schuler designed the 1934 United States commemorative Maryland Tercentenary half dollar.
Hans Schuler | Coins
After the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, discussion arose over what sort of currency should be adopted in the United States. At the time, people in North America relied upon a mixture of foreign coins, none of which were struck to a consistent standard, making day-to-day financial transactions difficult. In 1783, Congress resolved to create a mint, tasking Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris with developing a plan for a system of coinage. The first coins struck by the United States – the Nova Constellatio patterns – were made to illustrate this plan. In 1792 the United States Mint opened in Philadelphia.
Pattern coin | Early United States patterns
Eckert was elected as a Whig to the Thirtieth Congress. He was appointed Director of the United States Mint at Philadelphia by President Millard Fillmore and served from June 1851 to June 6, 1853. He died in Philadelphia in 1865. Interment in Laurel Hill Cemetery.
George Nicholas Eckert | Political career
In 1878 he became the chief clerk (assistant director) of the United States Mint in Philadelphia. He retained that position until his death in 1883.
John Lawrence LeConte | U.S. mint
Both types of pattern coin were sent by Patterson to Corwin on March 25, 1851, with the Mint director's recommendation that the chief engraver's design be selected. The next day, acting Treasury Secretary William L. Hodge approved Longacre's design. Knowing there was a large demand for the new coins, Patterson thought it best to build up a stock of 500,000 before beginning distribution.
Three-cent silver | Preparation
In 1859, James Ross Snowden unsuccessfully requested permission from the Treasury Secretary to create patterns and restrikes of rare coins for sale to collectors, and in that year, dealers began offering plain edge 1804 dollars to the public. At least three were offered for sale by various dealers in 1859, and coin dealer Ebenezer Locke Mason claimed that he was offered three by Theodore Eckfeldt, a Mint employee and nephew of Adam Eckfeldt (who had died in 1852). After the public became aware that Mint officials had permitted restrikes, there was a minor scandal which resulted in a Congressional investigation and the destruction of outdated coinage dies.
1804 dollar | Later restrikes
Linderman assumed the position of Director of the Mint and Pollock became Superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint. In July 1873, production began on the dies needed to strike the coins. During this time, in a telegram to Pollock, Linderman asked that production of trade dollars be hastened because Mexico was preparing to issue another series of dollars with the older design popular in Asia, a design that was discontinued in 1866. The first trade dollars were struck during a ceremony held on July 11, 1873. Forty thousand pieces were issued in the first release, on July 14. The Carson City Mint received its first dies for the new coins on July 22, and those intended for the San Francisco Mint arrived shortly after.
Trade dollar (United States coin) | Production
His design for the District of Columbia quarter dollar reverse was displayed at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.
Joel Iskowitz | United States Mint work
The committee anticipated that the same artist would first design the committee's medal and then the coin. The obverse of both medal and coin were to be based on the well-known sculpture of Washington (1786) by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon; the artist was not restricted as to the reverse design. By law, coinage designs were approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, at that time Andrew W. Mellon, a noted art collector and connoisseur; it was anticipated he would interpose no objection to the plan.
Washington quarter | Inception
Joseph Cloud had held the position of Melter and Refiner of the Philadelphia Mint since 1797. The Washington administration appointee resigned, effective at the start of 1836. Peale was nominated as Cloud's replacement by President Andrew Jackson on December 21, 1835, and was confirmed by the Senate on January 5, 1836. On taking office as Melter and Refiner, Peale implemented the changes he had recommended based on what he had seen in Europe. He also wanted additional mechanization in the mint's Coining Department, headed by Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt, whose son Jacob was the Philadelphia Mint's Assayer. Adam Eckfeldt had helped strike some of the first federal coins in 1792 and had been in his office since 1814.
Franklin Peale | Melter and Refiner
On January 29, 1824, Kneass was appointed Chief Engraver of the United States Mint. During his tenure as Chief Engraver, he oversaw production of gold coinage, and circulating coinage. In 1830, Kneass redesigned the quarter, and in 1834, redesigned the gold coinage. He also introduced a new Liberty head on the half dollar, a design that was modified several times over the next two years. In 1835 Mint director Samuel Moore wrote of him: "Mr. Kneass, our present engraver ... is an acceptable, popular and very useful Officer, perhaps one of the most rapid in execution in the U. States.
William Kneass | Chief engraver of the U.S. Mint
Taxay's first published work was "Counterfeit, Mis-Struck and unofficial U.S. Coins", in 1963, followed by "The U.S. Mint and Coinage" in 1966 (which Gilroy Roberts called "the most complete and authoritative treatise on the subject ever written"), "An Illustrated History of U.S. Commemorative Coinage" in 1967, "Money of the American Indians" in 1970, and "Scott's Comprehensive Catalogue and Encyclopedia of United States Coins" in 1971. He also served as the curator of the Chase Manhattan Bank Money Museum from April 1964 to May 1966. In 1974, he joined award-winning numismatist Harry Forman in establishing the coin dealership of Forman, Taxay and Associates.
Don Taxay | Career in numismatics
The chief engraver wrote to Mint Director Snowden that the three-dollar piece, which went into production in 1854, was the first time he had been allowed artistic freedom in designing a coin. The gold dollar was altered the same year to make the planchet both thinner and wider; Longacre modified his princess design for the gold dollar. For the reverse of the coins, Longacre created a wreath of wheat, corn, tobacco, and cotton, blending the agricultural products of the North and the South. This wreath would also be used on the reverse of the Flying Eagle cent in 1856; reused on the dime beginning in 1860, the "cereal wreath" would be Longacre's last surviving design on coinage, remaining with modifications until the 1916 abandonment of the Barber dime.
James B. Longacre | Prolific designer (1853–1863)
Edward Gallaudet was the twelfth son of Peter Wallace Gallaudet the personal secretary to US President George Washington while his office was in Philadelphia. Peter Wallace Gallaudet was the nephew of Elisha Gallaudet, the engraver of the first US coin, the 1776 Continental Dollar. Gallaudet was an apprentice engraver in Hartford Connecticut. He then moved to Boston where he worked with John Cheney. He was a reputable line engraver and his best work was between 1835 and 1840. He also worked in New York City. He died at 38 years old.
Edward Gallaudet (engraver) | History
In total, 396,635 business strikes and 865 proof coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint during the first year of production. The Carson City and San Francisco mints struck 124,500 and 703,000 coins respectively. There were complaints that year from officials at all three of the mints concerning the quality of the coins produced. In the summer of 1874, coiner A. Loudon Snowden issued a formal complaint to Pollock about the quality of the strikings, most notably on the high points of the design; Barber began modifying the design later that year, reducing the relief. The modified dies began service in 1875.
Trade dollar (United States coin) | Production
In addition to striking the pattern coins in 1849, officials at the Philadelphia Mint continued to experiment with three-cent silvers. The matter was caught up in ongoing conflict between Mint chief coiner Franklin Peale, and the chief engraver, James B. Longacre, who each prepared designs. Peale produced a coin depicting a Liberty cap, based on a design prepared by Longacre's late predecessor, Christian Gobrecht, in 1836. Longacre prepared a design similar to the coin that was eventually released. On March 2, 1851, the day before the legislation was passed, Longacre, with the reluctant permission of Patterson (a Peale ally) sent Treasury Secretary Thomas Corwin samples of his proposed three-cent piece, along with a letter explaining the symbology.
Three-cent silver | Preparation
Nicholas Briot (about 1579 – 24 December 1646) was an innovative French coin engraver, medallist and mechanical engineer, who emigrated to England and became chief engraver to the Royal Mint in 1633 and is credited with the invention of the coining-press.
Nicholas Briot | Introduction
Faced with a rise in silver prices, Congress decreased the silver content of the half dime, dime, quarter and half dollar in 1853. Longacre was asked to alter Gobrecht's designs so new coins could be distinguished from old. He proposed placing rays around the heraldic eagle on the reverses of the quarter and half dollar, and arrows by the date for all of the affected denominations. As the act requiring the reduction in weight allowed the Mint to hire outside artists to do the work, Snowden allowed for public designs for the new pieces. No public entry was found suitable, and Longacre's proposal was adopted.
James B. Longacre | Prolific designer (1853–1863)
Having received no reply, he wrote again in late August, this time to Milton Medary, a member of the Fine Arts Commission, asking what progress had been made. Medary replied that the Sesquicentennial Commission was in touch with the new Chief Engraver at the Philadelphia Mint, John R. Sinnock (his predecessor, George T. Morgan, had died in January), but that Sinnock had not yet submitted satisfactory designs.
United States Sesquicentennial coinage | Inception
When speaking to the House of Representatives in November 1792, President Washington mentioned the "want of small coins in circulation" and stated that he had begun work on establishing a U.S. Mint and that some half dismes had been produced already. At this point, most of the personnel had been hired, but the Mint's buildings and machinery were not yet ready. As a result, the half dismes, which had been struck in or around July 1792, were produced using the private facilities of local craftsman John Harper, although under the auspices of official Mint personnel. In his personal log book, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson recorded the receipt of 1,500 specimens on July 13.
1792 half disme | Origins
The design of the original 1850 coins was due to Alexander Hutter for the copper coins (realised by Jean-Jaques Barre of Paris), to Karl Friedrich Voigt of Munich (1800–1874) for the billon coins, and to Friedrich Fisch of Aarau for the silver coins (the "seated Helvetia" motif). Voigt's design for the reverse side, consisting of the coin value in wreaths of grapes, oak leaves and gentian, remains in use in the current coins, while his design of the federal coat of arms on the obverse was replaced in the 1870s. The designs of the coins in current use, other than the 5 francs coin, are due Albert Walch (1816–1882).
Coins of the Swiss franc | History
The Commission had trouble agreeing on a design with Mint Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock, and asked Philadelphia attorney, arts patron and numismatist John Frederick Lewis (1860–1932) to submit sketches. These were adapted by Sinnock, without giving credit to Lewis, whose involvement would not be generally known for forty years. Both the quarter eagle, designed by Sinnock, and the half dollar were struck in the maximum number authorized, but many were returned to the Mint for melting when they failed to sell. The Liberty Bell reverse for the half dollar was later reused by Sinnock, again without giving Lewis credit, on the Chief Engraver's Franklin half dollar, which was first minted in 1948.
United States Sesquicentennial coinage | Introduction
With legislators busy with other matters, it was not until September 26, 1890, that President Benjamin Harrison signed legislation making all denominations of U.S. coins available for immediate redesign by the Mint upon obtaining the Secretary of the Treasury's approval. Each coin could thereafter be altered from the 25th year after it was first produced; for example, a coin first struck in 1892 would be eligible for redesign in 1916.
Barber coinage | Movement towards redesign
In adapting the design, Mint Sculptor-Engraver John Mercanti and other members of the engraving staff strengthened many of the details. Mercanti noted that Weinman's original plaster was only in diameter, and was softly modeled. Mercanti increased the detail so that the design, struck on a larger coin, would be bolder and would have a more even metal flow when struck than Weinman's original coin. Treasury Secretary James Baker chose a heraldic eagle design, by Mercanti, as the reverse of the American Silver Eagle. In December 2010, President Barack Obama signed legislation authorizing bullion coins made of palladium. The obverse would be taken from the Mercury dime; the reverse would follow Weinman's architectural award medal on which he based the half dollar's reverse.
Walking Liberty half dollar | Replacement and design reuse