Type 3 Indian Princess Gold Dollar

The Type 3 Indian Princess Gold Dollar represents the final and most successful design of the American gold dollar series, correcting the striking problems that plagued the brief Type 2 issue. It remained in production longer than either of its predecessors, spanning over three decades until the denomination's discontinuation in 1889.

Collectors value the series for its combination of accessible common dates and a number of genuinely rare, low-mintage later issues struck mostly for collectors rather than commerce.

James B. Longacre revised his own Type 2 Indian Princess design in 1856 to address complaints about weak, poorly struck coins, enlarging the head and lowering the relief slightly to improve strike quality on the tiny gold dollar planchet. The resulting Type 3 design proved far more practical to produce and became the standard gold dollar for the remainder of the denomination's existence.

Production continued at Philadelphia, with the Dahlonega Mint striking the design until the Civil War closed that facility in 1861, and San Francisco contributing intermittently. As the gold dollar became increasingly impractical for everyday use due to its tiny size, later mintages, especially from the 1870s and 1880s, dropped to very small numbers, often struck primarily to satisfy collector demand.

The denomination, along with the Three-Dollar Gold Piece, was discontinued in 1889 as the Mint moved away from denominations with little practical circulation use.

The obverse depicts a larger Native American princess head facing left, wearing a feathered headdress, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the border and the date below. The reverse shows the denomination 1 DOLLAR within a wreath of wheat, cotton, corn, and tobacco leaves, with the date placed on the obverse.

Mintmarks appear on the reverse below the wreath: D for Dahlonega (through 1861) and S for San Francisco, with Philadelphia coins carrying no mark. Compared to the Type 2 design, the Type 3 portrait is noticeably larger and set slightly differently on the coin, generally showing sharper, more complete details even on well-worn examples.

The coin retains the tiny overall diameter of the gold dollar series and a reeded edge, and collectors should watch closely for old mount removal or cleaning, both common on this small, historically jewelry-favored coin.

Common-date Philadelphia Type 3 gold dollars from the 1850s through 1860s trade with modest premiums over gold bullion value, while later, very low-mintage Philadelphia and San Francisco dates from the 1870s and 1880s, often struck in small numbers primarily for collectors, command substantially higher prices.

Dahlonega-mint examples are particularly desirable due to that mint's closure in 1861 and its Southern gold rush history, and Mint State examples of any late, low-mintage date can bring strong premiums reflecting genuine scarcity.