1862 Three Dollar Gold (1862 $3) NGC AU53. Civil War Three Dollar Gold. Researchers have speculated as to why the government chose to create a three dollar coin. Some suggest it was so the public could easily purchase sheets of one hundred three cent stamps. Later they could have been used to purchase three cent coins.

The three dollar gold coin was designed by James Longacre and issued from 1854 to 1889. It shows an “Indian Princess” who is actually a Caucasian woman wearing a feathered headdress. The coin is a slight variation of Longacre’s gold dollar design.