Instead, in December, Gobrecht sought the position of chief engraver of the Mint, writing to President James Monroe.

[3] In addition to his professional activities, Gobrecht was an inventor, inventing improvements to the camera lucida, a talking doll, a kind of melodeon, and the medal-ruling machine, which reproduces relief on a plain surface.

[3] There is extant documentation showing that Gobrecht worked for the Mint as early as 1823 immediately upon the death of the first chief engraver Robert Scot.

[1] During his tenure as Chief Engraver of the Mint, Gobrecht produced perhaps what he is mainly known for, the Seated Liberty dollar, based on sketches by Thomas Sully, and Titian Peale.

That design remained on U.S. coinage as late as 1891[1] Gobrecht died in July 1844; his place as chief engraver was taken by James B.