Description
James B. Longacre designed the first gold
dollar in 1849 shortly after it was authorized by the Act of March 3,
1849. In 1854, Longacre restyled this Liberty Head gold dollar
(referred to as a Type I gold dollar) to display an Indian Princess,
creating the Indian Head Type II gold dollar.
Design
$1 Gold Indian Head Type II The design of
the coin is very similar to that of the $3 Indian Princess. When the $1
Liberty Gold Coin was redesigned in 1854, the caricature of Lady
Liberty changed dramatically. Before, the design of the Type I was very
similar to that of the $20 Liberty, featuring Lady Liberty surrounded
by thirteen stars. The new Type II design featured Lady Liberty wearing
an Indian headdress surrounded by the words 'UNITED STATES OF AMERICA'.
A wreath encircles the denomination and date on the $1 Indian gold
coin's reverse. This wreath is composed of tobacco, wheat, corn and
cotton ' the principle cash crops of the time.
$1 Gold Indian Head Type III
Due to difficulties involved
in striking Type II $1 Gold Coins, Longacre chose to redesign them. In
1857, Indian Head Type III $1 gold coins were born. The redesign was
meant to give the coin a more sharp appearance, although the design
still closely resembled the Type II. Miss Liberty is still represented
as an Indian Princess, but with slight changes to her headdress. The
size of her head and the details on the wreath, denomination, and the
date on the reverse were all enlarged
Minting Information
In an effort to make the coin appear
larger, the Type I was flattened to add 3 millimeters to the diameter
to create the Type II. This caused several problems in the striking of
the coin from the very beginning. The high relief of the head on the
obverse prevented certain relief areas on the corresponding part of the
reverse from striking up properly, especially the central two digits of
the date. There were also problems with the strike of Miss Liberty's
head and parts of the wreath. The Type II Indian Heads were minted only
for only two years from 1854-1856.
Design changes creating the Type III $1 Indian Head resulted in
coins that could be struck properly. They were produced for over three
decades between 1856 and 1889. These gold dollars were minted in
Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dahlonega, New Orleans, and San Francisco.
| Detailed Coin Information |
| Designer: James B. Longacre |
| Gross Weight: 1.672g |
Gold Content: 0.04837 oz. |
| Composition: 90% gold, 10% copper |
| Diameter: 13mm |
Edge: Reeded |
| Dates: 1854-56 (Type II); 1856-89 (Type III) |
| Mints: Charlotte (1855), Dahlonega (1855-61), New Orleans (1855), Philadelphia (all dates), San Francisco (1856-60; 1870) |
