U.S. Pattern Coins

U.S. Pattern Coins A Meinhart Talk by Eli Fybush What is a pattern coin? • A pattern coin is a coin that is a proposed design for a coin that isn’t approved to be released. • Many are very valuable because of their rarity and their historical importance, which is why they are so heavily collected. How did pattern coins begin in the U.S.? • Once the U.S. declared independence, Congress discussed what its currency should be. • In 1783, Congress resolved this problem by creating the U.S. Mint. • In 1792, the U.S. Mint opened in Philadelphia, and the first patterns were made, including the half dime – then known as a half disme. • Many of these patterns entered circulation in the next decade. The golden age of patterns • Many more patterns were created, but in the 1800s it got a lot more interesting. • Starting in 1836, even more patterns were made, including the 1836 two-cent piece, the 1836 gold dollar, the 1856 Flying Eagle cent, the 1858 Flying Eagle cent, the 1859 half dollar, the 1863 Washington two-cent piece and, most notably, the 1877 gold fifty-dollar pattern. These are some of my favorite patterns… The 1854 and 1855 Flying Eagle cents were ideas for a new one-cent piece. At that time the U.S. Mint was experimenting with ideas for a new cent. The Flying Eagle was made of multiple compositions and designs as they were experimenting. The 1856 design was finally accepted. The 1866 Lincoln nickel was the first proposal to put an actual person on a U.S. coin. The coins are of great interest to all numismatists, as they are the only U.S. patterns that have Lincoln on them. They were made in nickel, copper, bronze and brass. The 1877 gold fifty-dollar pattern is extremely rare. Only two in gold exist, and they are owned by the Smithsonian Institution. The 1907 20-dollar Indian head pattern was very interesting because, though it did not go into circulation itself, its design was used the same year for the 10-dollar Indian head coin. The End of an Era In 1965, the U.S. Mint was experimenting with copper nickel instead of silver. While they were testing copper nickel coins they didn’t want to use the normal designs, so they created the Martha Washington design to be used on test coins. What happened to patterns? As computers have developed, there has been no need to create physical patterns. As you could tell after the 1907 Indian head, there wasn’t another notable pattern until 1965. Today coins are designed on computers, but it was very interesting to look back on the history of patterns from 1776 to 1965. In looking at the history of patterns, it also is part of the history of the U.S. Mint. Thanks for listening! Images courtesy of pcgscoinfacts.com .

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