Three Dollar Gold Coin

Coin	Weight (g)	Composition	Gold Melt Value	Full Melt Value
Indian Princess (1854-1889 )	5.02	Gold 90%, Copper 10%

The United States made three dollar gold coins from 1854 through 1889.  The Chef Engraver for the US Mint James Barton Longacre designed the Indian Princess Liberty Head.  Longacre Created 22 different coin designs during his 25 years as chief engraver between 1844 and 1869.  The Indian Princess design may have been inspired by his daughter.  Supposedly she wandered into his studio and found the American Indian headdress he was using for a different design, possibly the Indian Head Penny, thus convincing him to use her as a model.  Longacre’s personal conviction, that Liberty donning the New World headdress is a fitting for the depiction of Liberty as American Liberty, carried through all objections towards his new design.  The strength of his certainty in American Liberty persisted twenty years after he passed away on January 1, 1869.

These reeded gold coins are 20.63 millimeters in diameter, weigh 5.02 grams and are composed with 90% gold.  The remaining 10% was a blend of copper and silver from 1854 through 1873.  During 1873 the US Mint stopped using silver in its gold coins and the 10% is entirely copper until the three dollar gold coin was discontinued after the 1889 minting.  The one dollar gold coin and three cent nickel also had their last strikes.

The obverse has the head of a young Liberty wearing feathered headdress which has “LIBERTY” on the band.  Around her and along the rim is; “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”

The reverse has the denomination stacked in the center of the coin with a large “3” then in small letters is “DOLLAR” underneath in the middle of the coin and under this is the date.  A wreath of wheat, corn, tobacco, and corn surround the lettering.  Under the bow at the bottom of the wreath will be a mint mark if minted outside of Philadelphia: “D” for Dahlonega, GA, “O” for New Orleans, LA, and “S” for San Francisco, CA.

Only 1,120 of these coins were struck in Dahlonega and all of these were minted in 1854.  New Orleans also only minted the three dollar gold coin in 1854 however 24,000 were struck there.  The San Francisco branch was used in 1855, 1856, 1857, and 1860 however in 1870 one coin was to be struck for the San Francisco’s new mint’s cornerstone.  However in 1907 a 1870-S three dollar gold coin, with signs of having been used as jewelry, was bought by the well known collector William H. Woodin.  Some believe that the San Francisco Coiner J. B. Harmstead might have struck a second coin for himself or someone else took it before it was set in the cornerstone.  Regardless, this singular 1870-S has been auctioned a few times, and in 1982 set a record of $687,500 when bought by dealer Harry W. Bass.

This year has had a sensational story of a second 1870-S $3 gold coin found by a European tourist glued into a souvenir book in San Francisco allegedly in 1997.  Fifteen years later the coin was to be auctioned at the Four Seasons Auction Gallery outside of Atlanta, GA on June 2, 2012.  The coin was apparently withheld from auction!  You can see obvious differences with the known piece in a comparison photo and suspicions are high as to its authenticity.  The auction has come and gone with no new news of the souvenir book coin.  The auction house was reported to be making arrangements for authenticity and the coin may appear for auction at a later date.

The United States three dollar gold coins were never produced in great quantities and any date is hard to find in top condition.  Just over half a million of these were struck over the thirty-five years.  2,058 Proofs were struck almost all out of Philadelphia except in 1855 two are thought to have been struck in San Francisco.

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