1870 $3 (1870 Three Dollar  Gold) PCGS AU55. Much bright mint luster remains within the devices of this attractive 1870 Three Dollar Gold Piece. The ends of the feathers and the lines of the hair above Liberty’s ear show sufficient separation to warrant the grade. For the issue, the coin is well struck on both sides. All of the legends are easy to read and the devices are seen clearly. There is a leaf to the left of the date which appears as an isolated fragment. Evidently the engraver forgot to attach it or the rest of it was polished away when the die was being made.

James 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 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.