This exceedingly rare Southern branch mint, Mint State 1860-D Gold Dollar is tied for the finest at NGC and none at PCGS. Researchers estimate that about 100 exist today in all conditions. In its population report, NGC shows 1 1860-D Gold Dollar in MS64 condition.

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Light abrasion, consistent with the grade, keeps it from a high Mint State grade. The surfaces of this 1860-D Gold Dollar are original and clean, for the grade, with no notable marks or distractions worthy of mention. Muted mint luster is seen within the devices on both sides of this 1860-D Gold Dollar coin.

The strike is poor, as are all gold dollars of this date and mint. Garrett and Guth call this date, “…one of the most poorly produced of all coins minted at the Dahlonega Mint….The U of UNITED is missing on every specimen … that the authors have seen. The N is also sometimes very weak or missing entirely.” On the present specimen, the N is visible in its entirety and the U is partially visible. Many of the design elements of both sides of the coin show doubling.

The discovery of gold in the early 1800’s led to the establishment of two of the Southern branch mints, Charlotte North Carolina and Dahlonega Georgia. In 1835 an act of Congress mandated that these two branch mints would coin only gold. The New Orleans Mint also opened to handle gold from Mexico. In 1838 the first Dahlonega gold coins were made, and they were the Classic Head half eagle type. Because of the local alloy’s high silver content, Dahlonega gold coins often have a green-gold cast. They are also often weakly struck on irregular planchets. Dahlonega gold coins are eagerly sought by collectors and investors because of their low mintages and rarity. Modern D mint coins should not be confused with Dahlonega coins. Today a coin bearing the D mintmark was minted in Denver, which began production in 1906.

The discovery of gold on Cherokee land in Georgia caused a large group of miners to come to the frontier town of Auraria, which is now Lumpkin County, Georgia. Its name derives from aurum, the Latin word for gold. Soon Dahlonega, which meant “yellow money” in Cherokee, would become the county seat. The miners’ need to convert oar and dust into bullion led to the establishment of private coiners, including the Bechtlers and Templeton Reid; however, because of a lack of standardization, there was pressure for a federal coinage to be created. The federal branch mint at Dahlonega was established to meet this need.

A building was erected in the town of Dahlonega. Power for its coining equipment came from steam produced in a boiler in the basement. Two small steam driven presses were on the first floor just above the boiler room. They could produce one coin per second. Because of the small size of the presses, the largest coins produced were half eagles.

On April 21, 1838 the Dahlonega Mint produced its first coinage, 80 half eagles. In that year 20,583 half eagles were minted in Dahlonega. The first quarter eagle was made the next year in February.

The mint worked as a refinery for gold deposits. People would bring in dust, nuggets, bars, and foreign coins. They would then be refined to establish their value. Silver that naturally occurred in the Georgia gold was not removed from the oar because the gold was more pure than the standard 90% fine. After the gold was coined, it could be picked up by the depositor.

Most of the gold deposited at Dahlonega took place in the 1840’s. The discovery of gold in California brought in deposits of new gold; however, in 1854 the San Francisco Mint opened, and the California gold that had been deposited in Georgia diminished. In January of 1861, Georgia seceded from the Union. Coins produced later in that year were made for the Confederacy. Since the same dies were used when the Mint was in Federal control, the coinage produced cannot be distinguished today. After the mint closed in June, it became a Confederate assay office for the rest of the Civil War.

The so called Indian Princess Head gold dollar was designed by James Longacre and minted from 1854 to 1889. The first, which is actually Type 2 because there was a prior Liberty Head gold dollar, was issued until 1856. The second Indian Princess gold dollar, Type 3, was minted from 1856 to 1889.

The Type 2 gold dollar showed a head of Liberty facing left wearing a stylized feathered headdress. It is inscribed LIBERTY on the headband. She is surrounded by the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The reverse shows an open wreath of corn, cotton, maple, and tobacco tied below with a bow. The wreath encircles the denomination, 1 DOLLAR, and the date. The problem with the coin was that it did not strike up well. In fact mint state examples looked worn and, in some cases, so circulated that the date could not be read on the coin. This problem most affected the branch mint issues, which Longacre did not get to see until afterwards. The proofs that he saw did not have this as a problem. To remedy this situation, Longacre designed the Type 3 gold dollar. While the design was similar to the previous issue, Longacre lowered the relief and moved the obverse head so as not to be opposite a reverse relief area. This coin is called the Large Size or Large Head.

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