United States 1862 gold dollar
This specimen was lot 1633 in Jean Elsen sale 165 (Brussels, June 2026), where it sold for €320 (about US$441 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ÉTATS-UNIS, AV 1 dollar, 1862. Très Beau. (United States, gold dollar of 1862, Very Fine.)"
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 common. The gold dollar was finally dropped in 1889, long after it had become unwanted.
Recorded mintage: 1,361,355 plus 35 proofs, the last high mintage date.
Specification: 1.67 g, 0.900 fine gold, 15 mm diameter, reeded edge, designed by James Barton Longacre.
Catalog reference: KM 86, Fr-94.
- Alexander, David T., Coin World Comprehensive Catalog & Encyclopedia of United States Coins, Sidney, OH: Amos Press, 1995.
- 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.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 165, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2026.
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