1879 Morgan/Barber Silver Dollar Pattern 3-pc Metals Proof Set

The Celebrated 1879 Pattern Dollar!

Following the discovery of the famous Comstock Lode, the nation's politicians decided that reviving a silver dollar was a wise course of action. The passage of the Bland-Allison Act in 1878 led to an immediate need for a new silver dollar design since the "Liberty Seated" Trade Silver Dollar had been discontinued in 1873. Rather than dig out an old design, it was deemed that a new image should be used.

New Blood In The U.S. Mint's Engraving Department

Enter William Barber, the 5th Chief Engraver at the United State Mint. He naturally assumed that he would be tapped to craft the new face of Liberty. However, Barber didn't see eye-to-eye with his boss, Mint Director H.R. Linderman. And, in an effort to bring "new blood" into the Mint's engraving department, Linderman recruited George T. Morgan in 1876 to be an Assistant Mint Engraver who would report directly to him—NOT Barber. An accomplished die marker from Birmingham, England, Morgan was a huge threat to Barber's grip on power as well as an impediment to his son, Charles Barber, taking over his post as if the position of Chief Engraver were some sort of hereditary throne!

Morgan Clips Barber In Competition For New Silver Dollar Design

The ensuing design competition saw Morgan's design emerging victorious—a coin we know today as the famous Morgan Silver Dollar, the most popular and collected vintage coin in United States history. Along the way, however, several test pattern coins were struck. This one features Morgan's design of Miss Liberty on the obverse and Barber's design of an American Eagle on the reverse. Morgan's Liberty design was the same that appeared on his namesake silver dollar Barber's reverse shows a perched American Eagle holding an olive branch with seven leaves and three arrows. The design was similar to his Trade Dollar design except that the eagle is thicker, its head is turned to the left instead of the right and it hold the arrows in its left talon and the olive branch in its right—the opposite of the Trade Dollar design.

Three-Piece Proof Collection Featuring Three Different Metals

Here, you can get a limited collector's version consisting of three recreations of the 1879 Morgan/Barber Silver Dollar Pattern struck in nickel silver, copper, and golden alloy. Each piece also comes in gorgeous Proof condition, meaning they were expertly crafted from hand-selected planchets, polished dies and multiple strikes to produce beautifully frosted details rising over mirror-like fields. Only 27,500 of these three-piece sets were minted—so act now to get yours!