Flowing Hair dollar

The Flowing Hair dollar was the first dollar coin produced by the United States federal government. Struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1794 and 1795, the coin was authorised under the Coinage Act of 1792 to form the foundation of the newly established American monetary system. Its dimensions and weight were directly modelled on the Spanish dollar—the eight-real silver coin widely used in trade across the Americas—which had itself derived from the Bohemian tolar minted from 1520.

The establishment of a national mint followed years of reliance on foreign and state-level currency. In 1791, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton presented a report based on assays of Spanish dollars, recommending a standard silver dollar containing 371.25 grains of silver with a gross weight of 416 grains, alloyed with copper. Following appeals by President George Washington, the Coinage Act was signed into law in April 1792. Although copper coinage began in 1793, the striking of silver denominations was delayed until 1794, when Congress lowered the required surety bonds that had prevented Mint officials from assuming their posts.

Designed by engraver Robert Scot, the obverse of the dollar depicts a right-facing bust of an allegorical figure of Liberty with unbound hair, adapted from Scot's earlier cent design but omitting the Phrygian cap. The reverse displays an eagle enclosed within a wreath. The coins were struck in a silver alloy specified at 1,485 parts out of 1,664 fine silver (approximately 89.24 per cent), with the remainder consisting of copper. Production of the Flowing Hair dollar ceased in October 1795, when it was superseded by the Draped Bust dollar.