United States 1860-S gold dollar
The introduction of the gold dollar in 1849 filled a desperate need as silver dollars were hoarded, being overvalued, and paper dollars issued by the aptly named "broken banks" were not trustworthy. Numismatists divide the gold dollar issues into three types: type I (1849-54), 13 mm diameter, type II (1854-56), 15 mm diameter, and type III (1856-89), 15 mm diameter with a revised headdress. This date is one of several scarce issues (1857-60) from the San Francisco mint. The gold dollar was finally dropped in 1889, long after it had become unwanted. This specimen was lot 2250 in Stack's Bowers ANA auction (Chicago, August 2016), where it sold for $3,172.50. The catalog description noted,
"1860-S Gold Dollar. MS-62 (PCGS). Significant Mint State quality for this underrated mintmarked gold dollar issue. Smartly impressed with razor sharp definition throughout, both sides also sport a vibrant texture to satiny mint luster. The overall appearance is smoother than one might expect at the assigned grade level, and handsome golden-orange patina adds further appeal. A low mintage issue with just 13,000 coins produced, the 1860-S is even rarer in Mint State due to having suffered a high rate of attrition through circulation. Examples such as that offered here are as elusive as Uncirculated survivors of many of the more readily recognizable rarities from the Charlotte and Dahlonega mints. Clearly the astute bidder would be wise to take full advantage of the opportunity that this lot represents. PCGS Population: 11; 13 finer (MS-65 finest)."
Recorded mintage: 13,000.
Specification: 1.67 g, 0.900 fine gold, .048 troy AGW, 19 mm diameter, reeded edge, designed by James Longacre.
Catalog reference: KM 86.
- Breen, Walter H., Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U. S. and Colonial Coins, New York: Doubleday, 1987.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Yeoman, R. S., and Kenneth Bressett (ed.), A Guide Book of United States Coins, 65th Ed., Atlanta, GA: Whitman Publishing, 2011.
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