1838 Gobrecht dollar, USA News: The date reads 1838, yet the Philadelphia Mint almost certainly struck this silver dollar more than 30 years later. A tiny crack near Liberty’s wrist helps explain exactly where the coin fits into American numismatics.
The coin is a rare 1838 Gobrecht dollar, Judd-85, graded Proof-65 by Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and approved by Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC). Stack’s Bowers Galleries will offer it as Lot 2088 in its November 17, 2026, Rarities Night auction. Fewer than a dozen examples of this plain-edge restrike are known.
History of the Gobrecht Dollar
The United States Mint began producing silver dollars in 1794, but precious metal values and international trade complicated their circulation. The Mint last struck regular silver dollars in 1804 before President Thomas Jefferson halted production in 1806. President Andrew Jackson lifted the restriction in 1831, and Robert Maskell Patterson became Mint director in 1835, seeking a new artistic identity for American coinage.
Patterson enlisted painter Thomas Sully to design a seated figure of Liberty and artist Titian Peale to create a flying eagle. Assistant engraver Christian Gobrecht transformed their concepts into coinage dies. The resulting dollar introduced an engraver’s signature, which faced criticism and was subsequently moved or eliminated on later 1838 patterns featuring 13 stars around Liberty and a plain edge.
Restrikes and the Cabinet Coin Era
While the Mint never produced the 1838 design for regular circulation, modern researchers recognize just two surviving original 1838 Gobrecht dollars. During the 1850s and 1860s, demand for Gobrecht dollars grew rapidly among collectors. Mint Director James Ross Snowden and later Henry R. Linderman utilized existing dies to manufacture restrikes for the Mint Cabinet and collectors.
Research by John Dannreuther, Craig Sholley, and Saul Teichman places the Judd-85 group around April 1869. The Stack’s Bowers specimen represents DTS Die State B, a late stage in the life of the 1838 obverse die marked by a small crack near Liberty’s left hand extending toward the drapery, alongside advanced die cracks on the reverse.
Auction History and Provenance
The coin’s recorded provenance includes Heritage Auctions’ February 2013 Long Beach Signature Auction as Lot 3862, where it realized $123,375 including the buyer’s premium. It now returns to the market from an Alabama family collection, featuring attractive shades of mauve-gray, gold, and antique silver with underlying apricot, pink, and blue iridescence.
