The Union and Half Union
Courtesy Peter Jones
We all know that Thomas Jefferson, Robert Morris, and Alexander Hamilton were instrumental in getting decimalized coinage adopted by the United States Congress.
The denominations were mill (never minted), cents, dimes, dollars, and eagles.
But did you know another denomination was also proposed... the Union, or $100.
In 1877, the Philadelphia mint struck a Half Union pattern (a $50 gold piece), intended to facilitate large transactions in the West where paper money was scarce. The mint only struck pattern pieces and Congress never approved regular issue half unions. The only two solid gold patterns now reside in the Smithsonian but 14-24 copper patterns exist, some of which are gilded.
William Barber designed and engraved the dies for the coin. The reverse copies the double eagle engraved by James Longacre, and the obverse looks halfway between Longacre's Liberty and Morgan's Liberty on the dollar coin.
Of course, during the Californian gold rush, private companies struck $50 gold pieces called 'slugs', but these were not US Mint products.
In 1915, the San Francisco mint struck $50 commemorative pieces for the Panama-Pacific exposition, but these were not regular issue coins.
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