United States: 1854 gold 3 dollar piece, Indian Princess

United States: 1854 gold 3 dollar piece, Indian Princess

NGC AU58. Cert. #3152674-004.

Numista-23121, Krause-Mishler-84.

Mintage: 138,618.

Ex-Erie Gold & Silver, at their table at the 2025 FUN show, Orlando, Florida, 12 January 2025. Purchased in an older NGC slab which was subsequently reholdered.

The $3.00 gold piece was an unusual denomination, particularly considering that the United States also issued $2.50 and $5.00 gold pieces at the time. They were never produced in great numbers and saw relatively limited circulation, mostly in the Western states. By the time of the economic disruption of the Civil War, they seldom circulated in the East. This particular date, the 1854, is the most common, with a mintage of only 138,618 pieces and 15 extremely rare proofs. So all surviving $3.00 pieces are relatively scarce as collectibles today.

This particular example is just short of Mint State and has, in my opinion, nice eye appeal. I purchased it in an older NGC slab which was likely more than 20 years old, but I sacrificed that when I sent it back to NGC for Photovision imaging and reholdering, as I wanted high-quality photos of the coin. This coin upgraded my previous example, which was another 1854 from the Long Island Collection, in an NGC XF40 CAC holder. The previous coin had even nicer color, but this one is a worthy upgrade since it is 18 grade points higher.



200000

 

Still a $3. My first was worse than that.



I paid melt for this one ($160 at the time). Yep, it was rough, but interesting. There was an obliterated counterstamp on the obverse that I was never able to quite make out. Also, I was told the 1860 is something of a "sleeper" date. Much scarcer than the 1854, obviously.

 

Minor typo there. Obviously you meant an 1854-D $3 gold. Which is an absolute dream coin. The only Dahlonega $3 struck. Wow. Not just wow, but WOW.