1 Dollar '1871 Dollar' Pattern, silver

The 1871 dollar patterns encompass an unusual cluster of experimental pieces produced as the Mint explored alternatives to the existing Seated Liberty design. J-1120 and J-1121 are among dozens of pattern varieties struck that year, many combining trial obverses with reverse dies borrowed from other denominations or earlier experiments. Congress was actively debating coinage reform throughout the early 1870s, pressure that would eventually produce the Trade Dollar in 1873 and retire Seated Liberty entirely by 1878.

Judd patterns from this period were frequently struck in small runs for sale to collectors — a practice the Mint officially denied and quietly tolerated for decades.