 As early as 1851 , New York Congressman William <unk> alleged that that Patterson had made the gold dollar too small in diameter on purpose to provoke criticism . Patterson retired that year after 16 years in his position , and under his successor , George N. <unk> , annular gold dollar and half dollar patterns were struck . Public Ledger reported that although gold dollars would not be struck in annular form , gold half dollars would be , to help fill the need for change . With the new Pierce administration , Thomas M. Pettit took office as Mint Director on March 31 , 1853 . In April , Treasury Secretary James Guthrie wrote to Pettit that there were complaints that the gold dollar was too small , often lost or mistaken for a small silver coin , and <unk> about reports the Mint had experimented with annular dollars . Pettit replied , stating that none had been preserved , but enclosed a silver piece of equivalent size . He noted that while there would be technical difficulties in the production of the annular dollar , these could be overcome . In a letter dated May 10 , Pettit proposed an oval @-@ shaped holed piece , or an angular @-@ shaped coin , which would lessen the production problems . Pettit died suddenly on May 31 ; Guthrie did not let the issue fall , but queried Pettit 's replacement , James Ross <unk> , concerning the issue on June 7 . As U.S. coins were required to bear some device <unk> of liberty , the secretary hoped that artists could be found who could find some such design for an annular coin . 
