 In early 1849 , according to a letter written by Longacre the following year , the chief engraver was approached by a member of the Mint staff , warning him that another officer ( plainly Peale ) sought to have the engraving work done outside of the Mint , making Longacre redundant . The outside engraver in question was Frenchman Louis Bouvet , whom Patterson had prepare a design for the half eagle , though it was not adopted . Longacre 's response to the information was to spend much of March 1849 preparing the dies for the gold dollar , at some cost to his health , as he later related . He demanded that Patterson hire assistance for him , but found the director willing only to have work contracted out . Longacre was unwilling to consent to this , as he could not supervise work done outside the Mint ( he did get help within the Mint from assistant engraver Peter <unk> Cross , who worked on the reverse of the gold dollar ) . Longacre proceeded with work on the double eagle through late 1849 , and described the obstacles set in his path by Peale : 
