The nation's first silver Dollars were struck from a single pair of dies designed by Robert Scot, first hired by the Mint in 1793 on the strength of his talents as a bank note plate engraver. The style is similar to his Liberty Cap Half-Cents of 1794, minus, of course, the Liberty Cap. The planchets were made in part from silver coins, mostly French minor denominations, deposited by the Bank of Maryland on July 18, 1794. The Dollars of 1794 are typically weak at the rims, as no coinage press large enough to properly strike this large coin was yet in use at the Philadelphia Mint. A quote from the New Hampshire Gazette of December 2, 1794 noted, "the touches of the graver are too delicate, and there is a want of that boldness of execution which is necessary to durability and currency". Indeed, Mint Director David Rittenhouse brought this problem to the notice of Secretary of State Edmund Randolph in his letter of October 28, 1794, where he wrote "a large parcel of blank dollars is ready for coining, waiting for a more powerful press to be finished in order to complete them for currency". Finally, in May, 1795, a satsifactory press was finished, and the nation's silver Dollar coinage began in earnest.