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Message:: [QUOTE="Clinker, post: 410758, member: 6229"]You know Morgan designed the Silver Dollar minted in 1878 and you know the obverse and reverse designs selected AND you know the composition. You, also, know there were two reverses (7 tail feathers, 8 tail feathers), but do you know what other designs were proposed for the Silver Dollar and the composition they might have been? I'm talking about the "Pattern Dollars" produced from 1878 through1880. I'm sure you know "Pattern Dollars" were struck in copper, silver, aluminum, lead and white metal, but do you know some were struck in Goloid? Goloid is an alloy of silver, gold and copper patented by Dr. William Wheeler Hubbell on May 22, 1877 (U.S. patent #191,146). The patent specifies 1 part gold (about 3.6%), 24 parts silver (about 87.3%), and 2.5 parts copper (about 9.1%, all by weight); however, the patent also states that "The proportions may be slightly varied" and goes on to specify that the silver portion can range from 20 times to 30 times that of the gold, and the copper could range from one-eighth to one-twelfth (from 12.5% to 8.33%) of the total mixture. The patent specifies that the metals be separately melted, then mixed, along with "sodium sulphate or potassium sulphate" in the amount of one part sulfate to one thousand parts metal. The alloy, in varying proportions (sometimes slightly out of these specifications), was used by the United States Mint to strike pattern dollars, sometimes called "metric dollars" (some were marked with "metric" in the coin design).  In the end, Goloid was rejected as a coinage metal because it could not be distinguished from the normal U.S. 90% silver coin alloy without chemical analysis, thus inviting counterfeiters to use silver-copper alloys alone to make lower-value copies. This trivia covers only " what-might-have-been" Goloid Pattern Dollars. Hope you enjoy (most photos courtesy of uspatterns.com): This first Goloid Dollar was designed by Charles E. Barber (Barber Dimes, Quarters and Half Dollars). Its Judd Number is J1557: <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_7484617" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_7484617" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_7484617</a>.  This 2nd Goloid Dollar of 1878 is listed by Judd as J1562. This design is considered the highest polished Dollar created: <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_7964370" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_7964370" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_7964370</a> Shown next is Barber's third design for 1878 (Judd 1653): <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_8259261" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_8259261" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_8259261</a> This pattern Dollar designed by William Barber is thought to have been executed by Barber's son, Charles.Judd 1617 (This is a "metric Dollar" design): <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_17957315" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_17957315" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_17957315</a> NOTE: The obverse on the "metric Dollar" (Large Head) is similar to the one used on the $50 Half Union patterns. Here's a bonus to this Trivia (Judd 1548): <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_5262787" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_5262787" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_5262787</a>  This Dollar pattern was designed by Morgan and is considered by many to be one of the uglier designs struck by our mint: Judd 1622: <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_18162310" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_18162310" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_18162310</a> This one uses William Barber's obverse of 1878, but changes the reverse (100 Cents). Judd 1629: <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_18269139" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_18269139" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_18269139</a> This one features George T. Morgan's coiled hair design similar to the design used on $4 Gold Stellas. Judd 1633: <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_18391516" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_18391516" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_18391516</a> As a bonus to you here's the $4 Gold Stella mentioned: <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_19254671" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_19254671" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_19254671</a> And now for the Goloid PatternDollars of 1880: Judd 1645: <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_20977512" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_20977512" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_20977512</a> Judd 1648: <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_21154378" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_21154378" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_21154378</a> Judd1651: <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_21328423" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_21328423" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_21328423</a> This one (Judd 1656) is a repeat of Morgan's Coiled hair design used in 1879: <a href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_21519280" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_21519280" rel="nofollow">http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uspatterns_2009_21519280</a> NOTE: All patterns pictured in this trivia are really Essais! Surprised? I hope so.... Clinker[/QUOTE]

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