1854 $3 (1854 Three Dollar Gold) PCGS AU50. This lightly circulated 1854 Three Dollar Gold Piece has lovely, original surfaces, which contain no distracting marks or imperfections. The very conservative grade of AU50 is confirmed by CAC. Considerable, bright mint luster is seen within its devices. For the type, the coin shows a strongly struck reverse and a well struck peripheral obverse.

James Longacre designed the Three Dollar Gold coin using the Indian Princess for his main device. He had to create a motif for the coin 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 Three Dollar Gold 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.