The Morgan Silver Dollar is a favorite among Coin Collectors not only in the United States, but worldwide. There are literally hundreds of stories involving the Morgan Dollar, some are true, and some can be classified as 'Urban Legends.' One of the most captivating stories is that of the identity of Morgan's Silver Dollar Girl, Morgan's Goddess Miss Liberty. Was she a real woman or just a composite of George T. Morgan's imagination? The information available is sketchy at best, and conflicting. The only thing any numismatist can do is to read all the information at hand, and make a determination based on intelligent judgment. Here are the facts. What is your conclusion?
It has been a long held belief that a Philadelphia schoolteacher by the name of Anna Willess Williams was the model for Miss Liberty on the Morgan Silver Dollar. Reported in an article in Coin World, dated April 25, 2002, by Paul Gilkes, of the Coin World staff, was that an undated letter from the daughter of George T. Morgan would be presented at the Whitford's auction on May 10th and 11th. The letter is from one of Morgan's two daughters, Mrs. C. Mervyn Graham, and it is believed to be to her daughter, Charlotte, because the letter is signed 'Mother.' The letter discusses family financial matters, and in what apparently is an answer to a question about information regarding the Morgan Dollar, it is written, "Father always said no matter how many models they [the word probably was 'that,' but I am quoting what was written] posed for him, that he never bid any & that he just made up the obverse himself..." Is that the definitive statement? Does that put to rest all the stories about Anna Williams being Morgan's Goddess Miss Liberty, or was it a statement that was a part of a closely held family promise to protect the identity of Miss Liberty?
In the May 1896 issue of the American Numismatic Association publication, the Numismatist, in a story reporting on the engagement of Anna Williams (which appeared in a newspaper called the New York Mail and Express), it tells us of the hiring of George Morgan by the U.S. Mint. In the article which recounts the story for its readers, it basically states. George Morgan was a highly talented young designer and engraver for the Royal Mint in England. Upon inquiries made by the U.S. Mint to the Royal Mint, Morgan was recommended to the then Mint Director Henry R. Linderman, and in the early part of the year 1876, George Morgan was hired at the Philadelphia Mint as an assistant engraver. He was assigned with the duty of designing the new silver dollar. After months of work he completed the reverse design, and he turned his attention to the design of the obverse. Not wanting to create a design that was reminiscent of designs currently utilized, "...the ambitious designer was too much of a realist to be satisfied with a mere product of fancy. Finally he determined the head should be the representation of some American girl and forthwith searched for his beauteous maid."
More details on Morgan's choice of Anna Williams as his Goddess Miss Liberty, can be found in the May 1926, issue of the Numismatist when the publication reported her obituary. George Morgan's friend Thomas Eakins, a Philadelphia artist of prominence, informed Morgan of Miss Williams' beauty. Eakins knew the family of Miss Williams, and also knew her to be an art student. Introductions were made, and Morgan asked Miss Williams to sit for him. She refused. It was through the encouragement of Eakins and her friends that Anna Williams finally agreed to pose. In Walter Breen's book, the Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, he states that Miss Williams was promised strict secrecy, and to maintain the secrecy she met Morgan at the house of Thomas Eakins on five occasions (the Numismatist states the sittings took place in November 1876) so that the sketches could be completed. A "cover story" was created that stated Morgan's inspiration was a Greek Figure at the Philadelphia Academy of Art.
"Mr. Morgan was so enthusiastic that he declared Miss Williams' profile was the most nearly perfect he had seen in England or America." (The Numismatist, May 1896) She was described as fair in complexion with blue eyes and a Grecian nose, but the most beautiful part about her was "...her hair, which was almost her crowning glory, was of golden color, abundant and light of texture." (The Numismatist, May 1926) To complete his design, George Morgan adorned his sketches of his goddess Miss Liberty with what some call a 'slave cap' and what others call a 'freedom cap' (reminiscent to the caps worn during the time of the French Revolution). The cap is fitted upon the back of her head with a coronet reading LIBERTY in front of the cap. Tucked between the coronet and the cap, just above ear level, are a couple of cotton bolls with their leaves. Peeking out from the top of the crown are a few sheaves of wheat.
Many numismatists tell us that the capped Miss Liberty design appears on the 1877 pattern half dollar design of Morgan and that after the silver dollar's final approval, the design was transferred to the dollar as evidenced by the 1878 Morgan pattern. A pattern coin is a trial coin or a prototype that is manufactured to see how the finished product will look. Those numismatists who follow pattern coins and believe that they were made in order, according to date, obviously have a false conception or a misunderstanding of a machine shop or manufacturing operation, and that is really what the U.S. Mint is, a glorified punch press operation in a machine shop. Let us take just a minute to investigate this premise before we continue on with Anna Williams' story.
Mint Director Henry Linderman, being a good politician and following the events on Capital Hill, knew that a bill similar to the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 would probably be enacted. Anticipating this bill, he hired George Morgan, in 1876, for the expressed purpose of designing a new one dollar coin. Those of you Coin Collectors who are Tool Design Engineers, Draftsmen, Model Makers, and Pattern Makers, especially the old timers, understand the process of manufacturing. It takes time for all of the kinks to be worked out before a product goes to the machine shop floor for manufacture. Q. David Bowers, who edited the book, United States Pattern Coins, Experimental and Trial Pieces, states, "Virtually no record at all was kept on the patterns made during the general period from 1859 to 1885!" So, no one knows for sure exactly when the hubs, dies or the pattern 1878 Morgan dollar was really made. It is certainly logical to reason that being the Bland-Allison Act's Presidential veto was overridden and enacted as law in February of 1878, and being the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia went into production within two weeks after the bill passed Congress, then the actual patterns, as well as, all the hubs, dies and other essentials necessary to manufacture the coins were completed in 1877. It may also be a fairly safe bet to infer, that being the U.S. Mint used the sale of pattern coins as an additional revenue source at that time, George Morgan was ordered to have a half dollar pattern made from his dollar design, and dated 1877, for sale to those 'special customers' who would buy the patterns of the U.S. Mint. Unfortunately, no one will ever know the true facts behind the pattern coins of the Morgan Dollar. Upon the release of the Morgan Silver Dollar in 1878, the Philadelphia, San Francisco and Carson City mints produced more than 12 million silver dollars that year.
The secret of Anna Williams as Morgan's Goddess Miss Liberty lasted only a little over a year. In the summer of 1879, a Philadelphia newspaper reporter dubbed her with the name of the "Silver Dollar Girl." She was deluged with thousands of visitors, letters and offers for public appearances. This was the kind of attention she was trying to avoid. Williams valued her privacy and her quiet lifestyle to that of the limelight, and enjoyed her position as a teacher at The House of Refuge. Some unsubstantiated sources say her employment was terminated due to the publicity, but what we do know is that in 1891 Anna accepted other employment as a teacher of kindergarten philosophy at the Girl's Normal School in Philadelphia.
It seemed just as Anna Williams' notoriety would begin to fade, another article would appear, and so it did in 1892 when the Ladies' Home Journal published her photograph. Again in 1896, the New York Mail and Express published the announcement of her pending marriage, which was also reprinted in the May 1896 issue of the Numismatist. These articles stated, "Miss Williams is a decidedly modest young woman. She resides on Spring Garden Street, not far from the school in which for years she has been employed as an instructor in philosophy and methods in the kindergarten department." No one seems to know for certain, whether it was the publicity over her engagement, the opinions expressed by some people as to the character of a person who would be an artist's model, or other private reasons, but the marriage never took place. Miss Williams withdrew as much as she could from the public eye, and when she did grant interviews, she preferred to talk about her work rather then her role as Morgan's Miss Liberty.
On April 17, 1926, Anna Williams died in her home town of Philadelphia. The May 1926 issue of the Numismatist issued the affirmation, "Death was due to apoplexy, induced by a fall she sustained last December and she had been confined to her bed since."
Was Anna Williams the muse of George Morgan? In the announcement of her pending marriage, the New York Mail and Express described her in this way, "She carries her figure with a stateliness rarely seen and the pose of the head is exactly as seen on the silver dollar. The features of Miss Williams are reproduced as faithfully as in a good photograph." In her obituary posted in the Numismatist, May 1926, Miss Williams was quoted as once saying about her role as Miss Liberty, "...an incident of my youth...." It has been pointed out by some experts that the profile of Morgan's Goddess Miss Liberty could not possibly be the profile of a young lady of 18 to 19 years of age, so it could not be Anna Williams. Still others tell us that the aging of Morgan's Miss Liberty was the work of the jealous U.S. Mint's engraver Charles Barber, and a more accurate representation of Anna Williams can be found on Morgan's Coiled Hair $4 gold piece.
The question still remains, was Anna Willess Williams, Morgan's Goddess Miss Liberty? Did George Morgan keep the secret so well that even his daughter did not know? Were all the publications' accounts wrong? At the point Anna Williams called it "...an incident of my youth....", had she just given up on denying she was Morgan's Miss Liberty, or did she just find it easier to say that, knowing it was not true? It is just another in the line of unanswered questions that will plague numismatists for the years to come. So, you decide. Your choice is as good as any experts. Is she, or isn't she?
