1887 COIN DESIGN SOLICITATION

On April 9, 1887, Director of the Mint James P. Kimball released a circular inviting artists to submit obverse and reverse coin designs for potential use on United States coinage. According to this correspondence from the National Archives, new designs were solicited for the cent, 5-cent nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar. Kimball outlined the requirements for participation in the contest and provided the opportunity for artists to study the coins in the Mint Cabinet to gain inspiration for their designs.

Word of the competition and its maximum $500 prize spread in various outlets such as local newspapers. Mrs. Lizzie Lee Godfrey of Bluff Springs, Florida, submitted a design for both the half dollar and dollar. Her dollar design featured the sword of Justice and the Star-Spangled Banner on the obverse and a horn of plenty... and the torch of Liberty on the reverse. Mr. O.B. Leonard of Plainfield, New Jersey, suggested a design for all silver denominations that included the profile of Columbia on the obverse and a head of the American Bison on the reverse.

Image: Dollar design submitted by Lardner Gibbon of Greenville, South Carolina.

Lardner Gibbon of Greenville, South Carolina, whose dollar design is shown above, believed that ...in the case of coins, Sentiment is required as well as beauty. Gibbon’s obverse sketch displays a maid guiding a Mercantile Marine to shore with a liberty cap. For the reverse, he provided context that the pictured eagle is perched close to a silver mine and is on watch because Among undomesticated Birds and Animals there is a rule for one to watch in an elevated position while their kind are busy feeding.

Unfortunately, the efforts of these artists were in vain as Kimball was forced to suspend the competition shortly after it was initiated because he lacked the legal authority to carry out his desired goal of redesigning United States coinage. It wasn’t until the passage of the Act of September 26, 1890, that the Director of the Mint, who by that time was Edward O. Leech, regained the authority to adopt new coin designs.

Image: 1887 Coin Design Circular

Link to circular announcing the coin design contest:
https://archive.org/details/circularinvitingnewcoindesigns18870409/mode/1up

Link to letter from Mrs. Lizzie Lee Godfrey:
https://archive.org/details/offersnewdesignsforcoins18870608/page/n1/mode/2up

Link to letter from Mr. O. B. Leonard:
https://archive.org/details/describescoindesignwithbison18870625/page/n1/mode/1up

Link to letter from Mr. Lardner Gibbon:
https://archive.org/details/proposedsilverdollardesign18870425/page/n2/mode/2up

Link to letter suspending the coin design contest:
https://archive.org/details/dmsuspendscompetitionfornewdesigns18870415/mode/1up

Link to 1891 Mint Report detailing the Act of September 26, 1890:
https://archive.org/details/AnnualReportOfTheDirectorOfTheMint1891/page/n67/mode/2up

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web