1852 Proof Dollar Pattern - J-147

Coin Details

Auction Record

$16,800 PR66BN 09-29-2022 Heritage Auctions

Description

Judd-147 (Pollock-175, Low R.7) is an annular dollar pattern struck in copper with a plain edge, featuring a large central perforation that would have dramatically increased the effective diameter of a gold dollar while using the same amount of metal. The ring format necessarily limits the design elements: a wreath and scrollwork decorate the available surfaces. The context for this experiment was purely economic. In 1852, gold dollars were essential to everyday commerce because silver coins had effectively disappeared from circulation. The California Gold Rush had depressed the value of gold relative to silver, making silver coins worth more as bullion than as money. Hoarding and melting removed them from the marketplace, leaving the tiny and easily misplaced gold dollar as one of the few reliable small-denomination coins. The annular format offered an elegant if ultimately impractical solution: a physically larger coin that contained no more gold than the standard issue.