Wikipedia:VideoWiki/Union (United States coin)

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Introduction

The Union was a proposed gold coin worth 100 United States dollars.

History

In 1854, businessmen in San Francisco, California sent a petition to Secretary of the Treasury James Guthrie for a fifty dollar coin to be minted.

Banknotes

Banknotes did not circulate in California at the time.

Double eagle

The twenty dollar double eagle was the highest denomination coin at the time, but was not adequate for large transactions.

Proposal

Guthrie responded to the petition by introducing a measure to produce a gold fifty dollar coin, the half union, and a gold one hundred dollar coin, known as the union. However, the measure was defeated in the Senate on June 16, 1854.

Revival

In the 1870s, plans were made to produce experimental half union coins.

Morgan

United States Mint engraver George T. Morgan made sketches of a possible design for a full union coin in 1876, should the half union ever be a success. When the mint concluded that the half union was infeasible, the idea of a full union was discarded and soon forgotten.

Fantasy coins

Around 2005, Morgan's original sketches were discovered and published so the numismatic community could see what could have been. Private mints have since struck fantasy pieces of Morgan's design for collectors, in both silver and gold.

Modern union coins

The one hundred dollar denomination has been produced by the US Mint since 1997 in the form of the American Platinum Eagle bullion coin.

Commemorative unions

Commemorative American Liberty gold unions were struck in 2015,

2017

2017,

2019

and again in 2019.