Perhaps my alltime favorite pattern design.......

[BOILER78]

This recent addition to the pattern collection is one of my alltime favorite coin designs. The design is attributed to William Barber and while I am not too crazy about the reverse, I find the obverse striking. I especially like the defiant eagle on the helmet.

 

This design is very interesting with eagles depicted on both the obverse and reverse as well as the motto "In God We Trust".

 

This particular example (one of 4 known) traces it's pedigree to the Major Lenox Lohr collection.

 

J 1526

[rbrown4]

Remarkable and splendid looking coin.

 

Rey

[MunkyMan95]

Amazing. Your coins are always top notch, Boiler!

[bsshog40]

That is an awesome design. Was this a proposed design? Any reason why it wasn't accepted? I suppose this would've taken the seated half out if so.

[MAULEMALL]

 

J 1526

Thats just a remarkable coin...

[JRocco]

Speechless

[WinstonWare]

Speechless

[Zoins]

Splendid pattern! That obverse is killer

[zrlevin]

That coin is STELLAR!!! I guess with 4 known, there is no chance of me getting one, then...

[rrantique]

Amazing Pattern Mark love the obverse. Interesting how it looks like LIBERTY was an after thought ingraved with a stylist . Absolutely beautiful coin.

[RUSS BEGA]

Pattern coins are my absolute favorite area )not that i can affors them) in fact when i applied for the Bass internship i proposed working with the pattern coins guess the ANA didnt fancy it such a good idea i got turned down

[IGWT]

I see some Greco-Roman influence with Germanic overtones in the design. Or something like that. Boiler, I don't want to worry you, but I just learned that it's about to become illegal to own patterns.

[RUSS BEGA]

illegal to own patterns?

[IGWT]

illegal to own patterns?

 

It's a reference to a hypothetical in another thread.

[RUSS BEGA]

ok i was starting to wonder...

[BOILER78]

Lou,

Please spread the word. I am hoping to buy into all the panic selling! If your getting nervous I also collect pattern nickels.

 

Mark

[Dcoin]

Almost as artistic as the California state quarter (can you feel my sarcasm?)

 

The mint infusion program should show this coin to is new artists!

[michael]

superb

 

the obverse reminds me of the half union patterns

 

 

[Cannon Coins]

OMG !! BEAUTIFUL !! I just poured gas on my entire collection and touched it off...... ..j/k... spectacular coin ! Thanks for the peak... CC

[rons]

What a beauty. Thanks for sharing

[MikeKing]

WOW!!!

[Doogy]

I actually love BOTH sides; the reverse has the same kind of symmetry as Kennedy half dollars. Stunning pattern, thanks for sharing!

 

 

 

Doug

[WoodenJefferson]

The entire design has the appearance, well to me anyway, that it was hand engraved directly onto the planchet rather than being struck on!

 

Would it not be wonderful to have in your possesion the very set of dies that struck this beautiful pattern coin?

 

(probably 1 obv. die known, 1 rev. die known, I can picture William Barber going to the press room with these dies, watching the set up and then the pressing, examining the end result..."OK, take the dies out and give them back to me.")

 

Humina humina...nice BOILER

[BOILER78]

Unfortunately the dies for this pattern were destroyed nearly 100 years ago.

 

The pattern half dollars of 1877 are a fascinating study. With 44 different designs credited to 3 different engravers the series served as a de facto design competition for what eventually became the Morgan dollar.

 

Mint director Henry Linderman (not a big fan of chief engraver William Barber) imported George Morgan from Londons Royal mint in 1876 so Morgan had the edge from the get go.

 

If Linderman hadn't had a bias against Barber this helmet head design might have been used in lieu of Morgans rendition of lady Liberty.

 

In the interest of full disclosure Barber apparently "borrowed" the design from an earlier sketch by Christian Gobrecht. Regardless of who came up with the design, I think it would be stunning on a dollar sized planchet!

 

As a side note I find it interesting that what is arguably our most popular collector coin traces its roots to a pattern half dollar struck in copper J1509 shown here

 

 

The J1509 evolved into the J1550 and was eventually "tweaked" into the beloved Morgan silver dollar.

 

[ldhair]

What a special coin. What's remarkable to me is the condition after all these years. How in the world did folks store items such as this? I love the eagle on the helmet as well. That's a tough looking bird.

[ibyandsellsmith]

I'm getting dizzy! I want both of those patterns the 1877 Half Dollar would be pretty cool to show Off. I just need to find the funds, anybody out there want to help out a fellow collector? with a loan of lets say $1,000,000 Hmmm!

[comicAL]

Hi, BOILER78

 

I can see why this pattern is your favorite!

 

The Eagle helmet that Liberty is wearing is just such a strong image, I love it!

 

The reverse image is also one of strength, this pattern half dollar really trusted God!

 

AAJ

[RWB]

Linderman's primary reason for selecting Morgan's chubby Liberty (apparently based on his wife, Alice) and W. Barber's chunky Liberty, was that Morgan's was in lower relief and would produce more coins per die.

 

Of course, Morgan worked directly for Linderman at the time, and the director had invested a lot of time and money in securing his services and having A. L Snowden and others review his designs.

 

After Linderman left the directorship (Dec 1978) Morgan was left "out in the cold" and this eventually led to Charles Barber getting the engraver's appointment in January 1880.