With experience in engraving dies, be became an engraver at the U.S. Mint. In 1836, he created his most famous work, the 1836 Flying Eagle dollar, now known as the Gobrecht dollar, and the basis for most of the Liberty Seated coinage that would follow for the next 55 years. In 1840, he was appointed as the 3rd Chief Engraver of the United States. By the end of his first year as the Chief Engraver, his Liberty Seated design migrated to all of the silver denominations, from half dime to silver dollar. By the early 1840s, his designs appeared on virtually all U.S. coins, from half cents to eagles.

Gobrecht's 1836 Flying Eagle Dollar

Examples of Gobrecht's patterns and other coins

Christian Gobrecht died in office on July 23, 1844, and was succeeded by James Barton Longacre. He was interred at Philadelphia's Monument Cemetery after his death. By 1955, the cemetery, adjacent to Lehigh University, was dilapidated. With Temple wishing to acquire the cemetery land, the courts petitioned for relocation of the cemetery. The following year, 26,000 remains were moved, and Temple bought the cemetery land. Gobrecht, along with his wife Mary and two children, were relocated to Lawnview Cemetery in Rockledge PA, a northeast suburb of Philadelpha. In the move, Gobrecht's original gravesite marker was lost, and he was unceremoniously placed in the Broad Lawn section, a giant field with no above-ground markers. He is in Lot 136, Section B, Grave 97. As the small grave markers in the field tend to get grassed over each year, the best bet to find Gobrecht is to ask at the cemetery office and they will take you to his gravesite and dig up the grass, if needed. Be sure to take his gravesite information with you.

Gobrecht's lost headstone

Spotting map to Gobrecht's gravesite in Lawnview Cemetery, Rockledge PA, off State Route 232


Photo of Gobrecht gravesite marker


Photo of gravesite and surrounding stump and trees

In conjunction with the Whitman Baltimore November show, the Liberty Seated Collectors Club will unveil a new headstone for the Christian Gobrecht family on November 13, 2024, at Lawnview Memorial Park in Rockledge, PA on November 13 at 1 P.M. This is approximately a 2-hour drive from Baltimore.

Although most often associated with Liberty Seated coinage, Christian Gobrecht (1785-1844) reworked the entire series of U.S. coinage during his brief tenure with the Mint, notably beginning with the Gobrecht dollar with 1836. Gobrecht further contributed the long-running Classic Head gold designs, in addition to the Braided Hair series of copper cents and half cents.

Originally interred at Philadelphia's Monument Cemetery in north central Philadelphia, the remains of Gobrecht and his family were moved in 1956, when the Monument Cemetery property was ceded by the city of Philadelphia to Temple University. Bill Bugert, writing in the July 2008 Gobrecht Journal, detailed his investigation into the location of the Gobrecht plot. The documentary trail, beginning with the old Monument Cemetery, eventually led to Bugert to Lawnview Memorial Park in Rockledge, PA.

There, Bugert discovered that the original Gobrecht family headstone had been discarded during the 1956 move of remains from Philadelphia to Rockledge, PA. A marker reading simply “GOBRECHT” now marked the family plot, hardly a fitting tribute to the third Engraver of the U.S. Mint.

Accordingly, The Liberty Seated Collectors Club, collectors of Gobrecht's Liberty Seated coinage, has sponsored a new, black granite marker for the Gobrecht family grave, and an unveiling ceremony will take place on Wednesday, November 13, at 1 P.M., just prior to the Whitman Baltimore coin show. For further information, contact Dennis Fortier (ricajun@msn.com), Vice-President of the Liberty Seated Collectors Club.