1877 HALF UNION PATTERN IN GILT COPPER

The fifty dollar patterns, named half unions, were struck in both Large and Small Head varieties, both types using a common reverse. One specimen of each design was struck in gold (Judd-1546 and Judd-1548) and a small number of copper examples of each design were also produced (Judd-1547 and Judd-1549). Some of the copper coins, including the present Small Head Judd-1549 specimen, were gilt, but it is not clear if this was done at the Mint or later.

The idea for the $100 union and $50 half union gold coinage originated during the California Gold Rush in the 1850s... Many years later, in 1877, the half union patterns were struck at the Philadelphia Mint during the directorship of Henry Richard Linderman. Linderman was a clerk at the Mint in 1855, and may have remembered the half union proposal from his early days in government service. He had many patterns struck for unofficial reasons during his later terms as Mint Director and formed a spectacular collection of his own, mostly of pattern and restrike issues. The half unions were apparently a "pet project" of Linderman's, according to the editor of the 10th edition of the Judd reference, as there was no pressing need for the large gold coins in 1877.

Impressions from the dies for the half union were reportedly sent to Linderman on August 30, 1877, so the patterns must have been struck in late August. The two gold half unions weigh 1289.1 and 1287.3 grains respectively, in line with the specifications outlined in Gwin's 1854 bill. Mint correspondence of the time indicates that Mint personnel feared such large gold coins would be especially vulnerable to rim filing and being hollowed out and filled by base metal, such as lead. The project was soon abandoned as impractical, and the copper patterns were clandestinely marketed to favored collectors.

Chief Coiner A. Louden Snowden acquired the two gold half unions, which were supposed to be melted, by paying the Mint Director the bullion value and a charge for pattern pieces. He later sold these coins to William Woodin, future Secretary of the Treasury, with coin dealer John W. Haseltine acting as intermediary. A scandal ensued when the transaction was made public and a complicated series of legal maneuvers and under-the-table deals resulted in Woodin returning the half unions in exchange for a treasure trove of other patterns, presumably also acquired by Snowden during his tenure as Chief Coiner, and later Superintendent, at the Philadelphia Mint.

The gold half unions are safely ensconced in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution today. USPatterns.com suggests fewer than a dozen examples of Judd-1549 survive today, with one specimen in the Smithsonian and another in the Connecticut State Library. About half the known specimens are gilt.

To read the complete article, see: 1877 $50 Fifty Dollar, Judd-1549a Gilt, Pollock-1722 (coins.ha.com/itm/patterns/1877-50-fifty-dollar-judd-1549a-gilt-pollock-1722-low-r7-pr63-pcgs/p/1209-54131.s)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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