United States Pattern Coins, 10th Edition by J. Hewitt Judd, M.D., edited by Q. David Bowers, Research Associate Saul Teichman, 2009, 341 pages, $39.95. We easily call patterns “the coins that might have been.” It is true that many were design proposals that never enjoyed production. Those efforts mostly came in the late 19th century as the Barbers father and son competed against their handyman, George T. Morgan. Arriving in 1876, Morgan’s first year, 1877, obviously started a new era. However, financial flux in a free market always forced the United States Treasury and its Mint to experiment with denominations, metals, weights and finenesses. The Barbers and Morgan also mark a departure from the homegrown Americanist notion that our national Mint need not rely on foreign craftsmen – though of course, from first to last, we are a nation of immigrants. (John Reich was an indentured servant.) While the enterprising coiners of Birmingham extended the frontiers of numismatic art in the 1790s, it was all America could do to produce coins of any kind. We cherish their Georgian simplicity today. From the folksy charm of hucksterism to the dangers of market fraud, the loose ends of pioneer entrepreneurship were tied to the U.S. Mint. We call the 1804 Dollar the “King of Coins” – and odd name in a democratic hobby – but, of course, the coin is a fantasy, as are the two series of remakes. Other trial pieces are equally questionable. Yet all are work of the Mint and therefore interesting to collectors. For most of us, this lovely and affordable book must stand in for the Seated Cent, the Amazonian Patterns, the Schoolgirl, and the Martha Washington Dollar of 1999 that we will never own.
A Collectible in its Own Right Sorry. Like Breen's Encyclopedia and perhaps a dozen others -- Newman's Early American Paper Money, etc. -- this is a well known work that every collector of American coinage should own. In fact, I have a Sixth Edition from 1977 that I bought used for $17.95 before Whitman created the present series a few years ago. This edition is completely modernized with color pictures. A key feature of these Red Book Guides is the Whitman Coin Grid. For this book, in addition to population, prices, grades and certified examples known, the chart also includes Times at Auction and Metal, as these Patterns were often struck in several different metals in addition to their circulating medium. (Appendix D describes all 22 of them, including Billon, Pewter, Goloid and Oroide.) For each coin, brief descriptions of the Obverse and Reverse complement a fuller "History and Overview." Appendix A lists "splashers." These were lead trials of hubs and other partially completed steps in the diemaking process. Appendix B is the briefest review of Mint errors. Appendix C is a fuller examination of the pieces known to be from outside the Mint, though using Mint dies and other materials. Appendix E lists and displays still more "curiosities" including the Amazonians and the Standard Dollar of 1870.
Patterns for me held little interests, with the exception of the 1868 10¢ patterns. The usage of the hubs from the old Large Cents only made them that much more fascinating. And then someone had fun and created some 1868 Large Cents as a novelty. Too me they are the penultimate pattern, created not as a pattern, but as someone in the mints whimsy. I have one of the CN J-647 patterns for the 10¢, and it is likely the only pattern I will ever own from the USA.
