J-1617 1879 Silver Dollar Pattern - 1879 $1 Pattern, PCGS PF62. R-4. 1879 Silver $1.00 Goloid Metric Pattern, R4. This goloid Proof 1879 Pattern Dollar exhibits wild toning that creates an almost cameo effect. The devices are a silvery rose set against slate gray and blue fields. The central portions are frosty and lustrous with muted peripheries. The colors and luster proclaim the coins originality. The fields are clean for the grade with no notable abrasions or other distractions. (The white scuff marks on and near the center of the reverse are on the holder not the coin.) As expected for a proof coin, the strike is strong. There are full details on the centers of the stars, Libertys hair and coronet, and the reverse wreath and legends. 

Designed by William Barber, the coin is similar to his 1877 $50.00 pattern. Libertys head is seen in profile facing left. Her wavy hair is tied at the back and flows down her neck. She wears a LIBERTY inscribed coronet. Seven stars are to the left with E PLURIBUS UNUM at the top and six stars to the right. The date is below the truncation. The reverse has a circle of dots at the center that enclose 895.8 S. /4.2G. / 100C. /25 GRAMS. Around the inner circle is a wreath of wheat and cotton. In a cartouche above it is the inscription DEO EST GLORIA. Around the edge is UNITED STATES OF AMERICA with the denomination written as ONE DOLLAR below.

The Goloid Metric pattern dollar was struck in goloid metal, silver, copper, aluminum, white metal, and lead. Goloid is an alloy of silver, gold and copper that was patented by Dr. William Hubbell in 1877. The metal is composed of one part gold, twenty four parts sliver, and two and one half parts copper. While used from 1878 to 1880 to make pattern coins, goloid was rejected as a coinage metal because it could not be easily distinguished from 90 percent silver without chemical analysis. Using it as a coinage metal would invite counterfeiters to use lower cost silver-copper alloys to make lower value copies. Goloid was used to test a concept for coins to match up to a European standard of value so the coin would be useful in international transactions.

William Barber was renowned for his pattern work and for the production of over forty medals. The dies and prototypes for these works were repeated many times over with slight modifications. One of Barbers most famous works was the Amazonian Seated Liberty quarter. In total, Barbers body of work is considered uninspired and inconsistent. However, he was one of the most prolific and influential pattern designers that had ever been employed by the Mint. He is probably best known for his Britannia inspired Trade Dollar that was made from 1873 to 1878 for circulation in China and other countries of the Far East. In 1878 Trade Dollars were discontinued, although proofs were made until 1885. One of Barbers negatives is that he was one of two Chief Engravers of the Mint not to have designed any major circulating coinage. He was responsible for the twenty-cent piece, but it was minted for only two years. Barber was succeeded at Chief Engraver by his son Charles.

In its population report, PCGS has certified 28 J-1617 1879 Goloid Metric Dollar at the PF62 grade level.