1792 Washington President Getz Pattern - Small Eagle Lettered Edge Half Dollar

Coin Details

Description

Representing the most complex and rarest configuration of Peter Getz's 1792 proposed half dollar coinage, this lettered-edge variant combines the WASHINGTON PRESIDENT obverse, small naturalistic eagle reverse, and edge lettering that served as both a design element and an anti-counterfeiting measure. Cataloged as Baker 24, Musante GW-24, and Whitman 10695, the lettered edge inscription required an additional manufacturing process beyond both the plain-edge and ornamented-edge variants, as each coin had to be passed through an edge-lettering device that impressed text into the coin's circumference. Peter Getz, a Lancaster, Pennsylvania engraver, proposed these half dollar designs during the formative year of the United States Mint, when Congress was actively evaluating pattern submissions for the new nation's coinage. The WASHINGTON PRESIDENT obverse inscription proved politically controversial — opponents argued that placing the president's portrait and title on coinage too closely resembled monarchical practice — and this concern contributed to Congress's ultimate decision to use allegorical Liberty figures rather than presidential portraits on American coins, a tradition that continued unbroken until the Lincoln cent of 1909. The small eagle reverse presents a naturalistic bird distinct from the heraldic spread eagle that would become standard on federal silver. Extremely rare with only a handful of specimens documented, the lettered-edge configuration is the rarest Getz half dollar variant and represents the full realization of Getz's three-element design vision incorporating obverse, reverse, and edge.

Rarity Notes

Extremely rare. Lettered edge variants are the rarest Getz configuration.

Cross References

Baker 24; Musante GW-24; Whitman 10695