The Flowing Hair silver dollar was the very first dollar issued by the United States. The Coinage Act of 2nd April, 1792, created the United States Mint and a bimetallic coinage system based on the silver dollar and the gold eagle. But there would be a delay of two years before the first dollar was struck.
The delay was caused by two reasons. The Government required a $10,000 bond from Chief Coiner Henry Voigt and Assayer Albion Cox before they could be permitted to handle precious metals. Mint Director David Rittenhouse was eventually able to persuade Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and President George Washington to reduce the bond substantially to enable both men to pay it. There was also a national shortage of silver which meant that the Mint had to wait for private citizens or banks to supply them with raw silver or silver foreign coins so that they could strike them into silver dollars. The silver suppliers would then receive the value of the silver back in a parcel of dollars.
Silver was received from The Bank of Maryland and the Bank of North of America, and it is reported that President Washington contributed some of his silver to coin. Rittenhouse also made a sizeable deposit, and the first US dollars were struck from his silver.
The design of the first official US dollar was entrusted to the Mint’s first official Chief Engraver, Robert Scot (1745-1823). Inspired by a right-facing portrait of Liberty created by Joseph Wright for the 1793 cent, Scot depicted her with her hair flowing behind her surrounded by fifteen stars, representing the number of states in the Union at that time. Her name, ‘LIBERTY’ appears above her head and the year of issue ‘1794’ beneath. For the reverse, Scot created an eagle motif with its wings extended surrounded by a laurel wreath with the inscription ‘UNITED STATES OF AMERICA’.
Born (appropriately enough) in Scotland, Scot learned his craft in Edinburgh before emigrating to Virginia in 1775 where he quickly acquired a formidable reputation as a coin and medal designer. A move to Philadelphia soon followed, where it is believed that he engraved the dies for the Great Seal of the USA in 1782. In 1793 he became the first salaried Chief Engraver of the United States Mint and designed the Liberty Cap half-cent and the Flowing Hair silver dollars. In 1796 he modified the Great Seal to create the enduringly popular heraldic eagle design, a powerful symbol of the USA which has appeared on the nation’s coinage ever since.
The Mint held a special ceremony in Philadelphia on 15th October 1794 to celebrate the striking of the first silver dollar. They quickly realised that their largest coin press was not powerful enough to strike the coins evenly, which made some parts of the design appear weaker than others. Of the 2,000 coins struck, 242 were immediately rejected because the strike quality was particularly poor, either lacking the desired definition or being off centre. These coins were held back by the mint so that they could be recoined the following year.
At the end of the day, Director Rittenhouse was presented with 1,758 silver dollars to circulate as he saw fit. He sent samples to friends and acquaintances all over the country to demonstrate the capabilities of the mint. One landed on the desk of President Washington, forwarded by Secretary of State Edmund Randolph with a note that read;
“The silver coin of the U.S. bears upon its face so much neatness and simplicity, that I cannot restrain myself from transmitting a dollar for your inspection.”
Mint Director Rittenhouse
Rittenhouse arranged for a local Philadelphia firm to construct a special press capable of delivering enough force to strike the large silver dollars. It was ready to begin work in April 1795 when production of the first silver dollar design resumed.
It has been estimated that about 125 of the 1794 dated silver dollars are known to exist today. One of the finest specimens, believed to be the coin that Director Rittenhouse kept for himself, and the first silver dollar ever struck at the US Mint was sold at auction for over $10 million in 2013. It became the most expensive coin in the world until another US coin, the 1933 Double Eagle sold at auction for $18.9 million in June 2021.