 Soon after the <unk> began to strike their private issues , Secretary of the Treasury Levi <unk> became an advocate of having the Mint of the United States ( " Mint " , when described as an institution ) strike the one @-@ dollar denomination in gold . He was opposed by the Mint Director , Robert M. Patterson . <unk> persuaded President Andrew Jackson to have pattern coins struck . In response , Patterson had Mint Second Engraver Christian Gobrecht break off work on the new design for the silver one @-@ dollar coin and work on a pattern for the gold dollar . Gobrecht 's design featured a Liberty cap surrounded by rays on one side , and a palm branch arranged in a circle with the denomination , date , and name of the country on the other . 
