United States Seated Liberty Coinage: The Vision of Robert M. Patterson

The design of the United States Seated Liberty coinage, which was on the obverse of all half dimes, dimes, twenty cent pieces, quarters half dollars and dollars for more than 50 years has been credited to the U.S. Mint's chief engraver Christian Gobrecht. The fact that Gobrecht's name appears prominently on the base of the first seated liberty coin, the "Gobrecht Dollar" is cited as proof positive of his authorship of this landmark design.

This article will show that the design was the vision of mint director Robert M. Patterson and that Christian Gobrecht did little more than execute the detailed design instructions he was given, and that the final design that we all know was largely determined by President Andrew Jackson.

Historical Background

Robert Patterson's father was the 4th director of the U.S. Mint and was appointed by Thomas Jefferson in 1806 and served in that position until 1824. On August 24 1814, the British forces burned the U.S. Treasury and White House.

Andrew Jackson defeated the British at the battle of New Orleans in 1815, and this victory eventually propelled him to the presidency of the U.S. (1829-1837). During his tenure as president Jackson focused on westward expansion . He believed that the availability of hard currency, as opposed to paper scrip, was key to this expansion, so he developed the branch mints in an effort to expand the availability of U.S. Coinage. He also wanted to reintroduce the silver dollar. Jackson was intensely interested in the US monetary system and the Director of the Mint reported directly to him until 1835. After that , the mint director reported to him indirectly through the Secretary of the Treasury.

In 1835, Jackson appointed Robert M. Patterson as the 6th Director of the Mint reporting to Secretary of the Treasury Levi Woodbury who was a former Congressman and strictly a political appointee. At that time the mint's chief engraver was William Kneass. Christian Gobrecht had already achieved fame as an engraver of important medals and had done some independent work for the mint, but was not an employee. William Kneass had a minor stroke in the summer of 1835 and Gobrecht was hired as an assistant engraver to help Kneass.

Andrew Jackson's second term as president expired in early 1837 , and he was succeeded by Martin Van Buren who retained Secretary Woodbury, mint director Patterson and Christian Gobrecht, who was promoted to chief engraver upon the death of William Kneass.

Robert Patterson's Seated Liberty Vision

(Reference for this section: "From the drawing board of a coin engraver.Sketches by Christian Gobrecht for the coinage of 1836-1838" By Elvira Eliza Clain-Stefanelli, Executive Director National Numismatic Collection. Reprinted from the A. N. A. Centennial anthology)

Prior to the appointment of Robert Patterson as the 6th director of the U.S. Mint, No design work had been done on the new silver dollar and there were no designs or patterns involving a seated liberty figure. Once Patterson assumed his new position, he immediately gave instructions and directions to chief engraver Kneass to do a rough seated liberty sketch. He then hired two noted artists, Thomas Sully and Titian Peale, to do more detailed renderings based on this initial drawing.

All three of these pieces were done before Christian Gobrecht was hired as an assistant engraver and the commonalities reflect Patterson's specific directions. In each case lady liberty is an attractive, feminine figure, in each case she is seated and in each case she is holding a shield in one hand and a liberty pole in the other. These core elements are so key to the final seated liberty design that it is clear that Patterson was the real author. It is a matter of conjecture as to the genesis of his vision, but the similarity to the figure of Britannia on the reverse of the British penny is undeniable.

The symbolism of lady liberty holding a shield is clear. It represents liberty DEFENDING freedom, and this idea had never been represented before on U.S. Coinage. Defending against who or what ? The obvious answer is against the expanding global colonial aspirations of an increasingly dominant Great Britain. Only 21 years earlier, The British army had invaded the U.S. It seems likely that Patterson's seated liberty vision was in opposition to British power rather than in emulation of their design. In this regard , it is essential to point out that Patterson's vision was of an attractive, feminine, desirable lady liberty as opposed to the militaristic Warrior figure of Britannia. Liberty was an attractive ideal that would draw people to her, not a concept that had to be imposed by force of arms.

Design approval goes to President Jackson, who moves away from a feminine lady liberty

Because of his keen interest in U. S. Coinage and the reintroduction of the silver dollar, President Andrew Jackson reviewed the design material for the 1836 dollar through his Secretary of Treasury Levi Woodbury.

Elvira Clain-Stefanelli, former executive director of the National Numismatic Collection, was responsible for acquiring the letters and sketches of Christian Gobrecht from his heirs. She completed a thorough analysis of all this material and published her findings in an article entitled "from the drawing board of a coin engraver". She writes (p14 "Gobrecht Dollars" by Mark VanWinkle)"