Three-dollar piece
| United States | |
| Value | 3 United States dollars |
|---|---|
| Mass | 5.015 g |
| Diameter | 20.5 mm (.807 in) |
| Edge | reeded |
| Composition | 90% gold, 10% copper |
| Gold | .1451 troy oz |
| Years of minting | 1854–1889 |
| Mint marks | D, O, S. Found immediately below the wreath on the reverse. Philadelphia Mint pieces lack mint mark. |
| Obverse | |
|
|
|
| Design | Liberty as an Indian princess |
| Designer | James B. Longacre |
| Design date | 1854 |
| Design discontinued | 1889 |
| Reverse | |
|
|
|
| Design | Small "Dollars" |
| Designer | James B. Longacre |
| Design date | 1854 |
| Design discontinued | 1854 |
|
|
|
| Design | Large "Dollars" |
| Designer | James B. Longacre |
| Design date | 1855 |
| Design discontinued | 1889 |
The three-dollar piece was a gold coin produced by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1854 to 1889. Authorized by the Act of February 21, 1853, the coin was designed by Mint Chief Engraver James B. Longacre. The obverse bears a representation of Lady Liberty wearing a headdress of a Native American princess and the reverse a wreath of corn, wheat, cotton, and tobacco.
In 1851, Congress had authorized a silver three-cent piece so that postage stamps of that value could be purchased without using the widely disliked copper cents. Two years later, a bill was passed which authorized a three-dollar coin. By some accounts, the coin was created so larger quantities of stamps could be purchased. Longacre, in designing the piece, sought to make it as different as possible from the quarter eagle or $2.50 piece, striking it on a thinner planchet and using a distinctive design.
Although over 100,000 were struck in the first year, the coin saw little use. It circulated somewhat on the West Coast, where gold and silver were used to the exclusion of paper money, but what little place it had in commerce in the East was lost in the economic disruption of the Civil War, and was never regained. The piece was last struck in 1889, and Congress ended the series the following year. Although many dates were struck in small numbers, the rarest was produced at the San Francisco Mint in 1870 (1870-S); only one is known with certainty to exist.
In 1832, New York Congressman Campbell P. White sought a means of returning American gold coins to circulation—as gold was overvalued with respect to silver by the government, gold coins had been routinely exported since the start of the 19th century. White's solution was to have the silver dollar and gold eagle struck at full value, but to have smaller gold and silver coins, including a $3 piece, which contained less than their face value in metal. Although Congress, in passing the Coinage Act of 1834, made adjustments to the ratio between gold and silver, it did not authorize a $3 coin at that time.
...
Wikipedia