United States: 1852 gold dollar, Type 1, Liberty Head

United States: 1852 gold dollar, Type 1, Liberty Head

PCGS AU58. Cert. #39640055.

Numista-6157, Krause-Mishler-73.

Mintage: 2,045,351.

Ex- Michael Swoveland, dba WNC Coins, LLC, Asheville, NC, ca. 2021-2022.

There were three types of United States gold dollars struck in the middle of the 19th century. This, the first (Type 1), featured a head of Liberty. The subsequent types (Type 2 and Type 3) featured different Indian Head designs. This type is the smallest regular issue United States coin ever struck for circulation, as it had a diameter of only 13 millimeters. This made it even smaller than the silver 3-cent piece (14 mm). The Type 2 and Type 3 gold dollars were a little bit larger (15 mm). All gold dollars are relatively tiny coins, and they must have been easy to lose when they were in commerce.

This particular example is just on the cusp of Mint State and has nice luster. I may eventually upgrade it to a fully Mint State coin, but in the meantime, I like it just fine in terms of its eye appeal. And I tend to like the design of these Liberty Head Type 1 coins a bit more from an aesthetic standpoint than I do the two later Indian Head types.



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