The Union was a proposed $100 coin of the

United States dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...

. It was canceled before any

pattern coins A pattern coin is a coin which has not been approved for release, but produced to evaluate a proposed coin design. They are often off-metal strike (using metals of lower value to test out the dies), to proof standard or piedforts. Many coin coll ...

could be minted.

History

In 1854,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

businessmen sent a petition to

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

James Guthrie for a $50 coin to be struck due to the fact that no

banknotes A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

of any denomination circulated in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Guthrie responded to the petition by introducing a measure to produce gold $50 and $100 coins, called

half union The half union (separate varieties known as J-1546 through J-1549) was a United States pattern coin with a face value of fifty U.S. Dollars. It is often thought of as one of the most significant and well-known patterns in the history of the U.S. M ...

and union, respectively. Although the measure passed the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on June 16, 1854, it was ultimately defeated in the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

. United States Mint engraver George T. Morgan made sketches of a possible design for a $100 coin in 1876, should the

ever be a success. When the mint concluded that the half union (a gold coin weighing about ) was infeasible, the idea of a union coin was discarded and forgotten.

Fantasy coins

Around 2005, Morgan's original sketches were discovered and published so the

numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also incl ...

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 $100 denomination has been produced by the US Mint since 1997 in the form of the

American Platinum Eagle The American Platinum Eagle is the official platinum bullion coin of the United States. In 1995, Director of the United States Mint Philip N. Diehl, American Numismatic Association President David L. Ganz, and Platinum Guild International Execu ...

bullion coin. The bullion American Liberty union of 2015, 2019, and 2021 as well as the proof American Liberty 225th Anniversary union of 2017 were struck in 24

karat The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hardne ...

gold.

References

{{Canceled United States currency and coinage United States gold coins Goddess of Liberty on coins Eagles on coins History of California One-hundred-base-unit coins