1864 Three Dollar Gold - 1864 $3 PCGS MS64. This exceptional, near-Gem, 1864 Three Dollar Gold piece is lustrous and bold. Its low Civil War mintage and excellent state of preservation make this coin special. Its rich, yellow and orange-gold surfaces shimmer. The strong strike shows full details on Libertys hair below the LIBERTY band, the tips of the feathers, the wreath details including the vertical division of the knot, and the two central numbers of the date. A couple of minor abrasion marks keep this piece from a Gem grade. The surfaces are original and show light die striations, which are typical for the date and do not diminish the grade or the eye-appeal of the coin.

James B. Longacre designed the three-dollar gold coin using the Indian Princess for his main device. He had to create a motif that would be distinctly different from the quarter and half eagle coronet designs. The design, similar to his gold dollar Large Head, shows a head of Liberty facing left in profile wearing a stylized headdress. Inscribed on the headband is LIBERTY. She is surrounded by the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. In using the Indian Princess design, Longacre felt that he was creating something that was uniquely American rather than an adoption from the classics. The reverse of the piece shows an open wreath of corn, cotton, wheat, and tobacco tied at the bottom with a bow. The denomination 3 appears at the top center of the wreath, with DOLLARS and the date below within the wreath. Longacre liked the wreath design so much that he adopted it for use on the small cent of 1856.

In the 1850s, Gobrechts designs remained on the quarter eagle, the half eagle and the eagle coins. Little effort was made to improve these designs. However, the gold interests were happy because they had obtained a favorable ratio for their metal, had large quantities of gold coinage produced at branch mints, and added three new denominations, the gold dollar, the three dollar piece, and the double eagle. In this decade, gold became the dominant coinage metal. The familiar Gobrecht motifs continued in use but were seen as much inferior to those of Longacre.

In 1851 a law was passed that authorized a three-cent piece and also made the postage rate three cents. Two years later a new law was passed authorizing a light weight silver three-cent coin and a three-dollar gold coin. Evidently lawmakers believed that the gold coin would be useful to buy rolls of three-cent coins and sheets of stamps. Its closeness to the quarter eagle, which was widely used, made the denomination somewhat illogical, and the public proved indifferent to them.

Of all the gold coin series, Longacres three-dollar gold is in many ways the least complex. There was just one major design, the Indian Princess motif, and the coins were produced continuously from 1854 to 1889. In the first year a variety was made in that all the coins have the word DOLLARS in small letters, and in 1873 there were Open and Close 3s in the date for proof coins and Close 3s for circulation strikes.

In 1854 the first and largest mintage was produced. Many were saved as souvenirs. Others briefly circulated and ended up being used for jewelry. Mintages were limited after 1854.

James Barton Longacre was born in Pennsylvania in 1794. When he finished his apprenticeship in Philadelphia as a bookseller and a banknote engraver, he worked on his own as an engraver of book illustrations and bank notes. His works included one on the signers of the Declaration of Independence and another on stage personalities. In 1830, Longacre began a series of biographies of famous men in the military and the political arena. In 1834 the result of this series became the National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans that was published in four volumes. Longacre and those who worked with him became famous because of this work. In 1844 Longacre came to work at the Mint.

He was opposed by Franklin Peale, the Chief Coiner. Peale was probably responsible for some blundered dies that Longacre was criticized for making. Peal was involved in a private, illegal medal manufacturing business using Mint facilities. He was concerned that this new political appointee would interfere with his business, and he resisted Longacres appointment as Chief Engraver. Finally in 1854, Peale was fired by President Franklin Pearce. Longacre flourished in his position and was responsible for creating many new designs including the Indian Head cent, the two-cent piece, the Shield nickel, the Liberty Head gold dollar, the Indian Princess gold dollar, the three-dollar gold piece, and the Liberty Head double eagle. 

The 1864 three-dollar gold coin was hoarded by the public during the Civil War. With a total mintage of only 2,630, the coin is rare in all grades. In its population report, PCGS shows 6 in MS64 condition with 5 better. At NGC there are 4 with 2 better, and these numbers do not account for crossovers or resubmissions.