according to longacre's notes, the first gold dollar coin was made in 1849.
according to longacre's notes, the first gold dollar coin was made in 1849.
when was the first gold dollar coin made according to longacre's notes?
1849
mint records indicate the first gold dollars were produced on may 7, 1849; longacre's diary notes state instead that the first were struck on may 8. a few coins in proof condition were struck on the first day, along with about 1,000 for circulation. there are five major varieties of the 1849 gold dollar from philadelphia, made as longacre continued to fine-tune the design. mintmarked dies were sent by longacre's engraving department at the philadelphia mint to the branch mints at charlotte, dahlonega (in georgia), and new orleans; coins struck at the branches resemble some of the types issued from philadelphia, depending on when the dies were produced. of the coins struck at the branch mints in 1849, only pieces struck at charlotte (1849-c) exist in multiple varieties; most are of what is dubbed the "closed wreath" variety. approximately five of the 1849-c open wreath are known; one, believed the finest surviving specimen, sold at auction for $690,000 in 2004, remaining a record for the gold dollar series as of 2013. one of the changes made during production was the inclusion of longacre's initial "l" on the truncation of liberty's neck, the first time a u.s. coin intended for full-scale production had borne the initial of its designer. all issues beginning in 1850 bear the closed wreath. beginning in 1854, the gold dollar was also struck at the new san francisco mint.
gold dollar
the act of february 21, 1853, that had lightened the silver coins also authorized a gold three-dollar piece, which began to be produced in 1854. to ensure that the three-dollar piece was not mistaken for other gold coins, it had been made thinner and wider than it would normally be, and longacre put a distinctive design with an indian princess on it. longacre adapted both the technique and the design for the gold dollar, which was made thinner, and thus wider. an adaptation of longacre's princess for the larger gold coin was placed on the dollar, and a similar agricultural wreath on the reverse. the idea of making the gold dollar larger in this way had been suggested in congress as early as 1852, and had been advocated by pettit, but guthrie's desire for an annular coin stalled the matter. in may 1854, snowden sent guthrie a letter stating that the difficulties with an annular coin, especially in getting the coins to eject properly from the press, were more than trivial.
gold dollar