1870 Half Dollar Patterns

About This Coin

The 1870 Half Dollar Patterns is a United States dollar from the Standard Silver Patterns (1870) series. The obverse features experimental designs for a proposed "Standard Silver Dollar" of reduced weight, while the reverse displays various experimental designs. Designed by William Barber. The 1870 Standard Silver Patterns were part of an effort to create a lighter silver dollar that could circulate alongside gold coins at a fixed ratio. The proposal was part of the broader debate over silver coinage that would dominate American monetary policy for decades. These patterns foreshadow the Coinage Act of 1873, which demonetized the standard silver dollar — an event silver advocates called the "Crime of '73."