1861 $3 (1861 Three Dollar Gold) NGC AU55. This Civil War dated 1861 Three Dollar Gold piece, for the grade, shows particulars beyond what one might expect. The details of the tops of the feathers and the area above Libertys brow show little wear. Within its devices the coin is lustrous. The strike is full on the reverse and the periphery of the obverse. All of the legends and dentils are sharp and clear.

The three dollar gold piece was made because of the mistaken belief that it would circulate and be useful in purchasing rolls of the new three cent coins and sheets of stamps. The public was indifferent to the denomination much as the public today is indifferent to the new dollar coins.

This year was the first year of the Civil War. It saw production of the cent, the three-cent silver, the half dime, the dime, the quarter, the half dollar, the silver dollar, the gold dollar, the quarter eagle, the three-dollar gold piece, the half eagle, the eagle, the double eagle, and all of the Confederate coins.

Until 1861 the three-dollar gold coin circulated somewhat in the East and Midwest. After 1861, when the war was being fought, they disappeared from circulation. The low mintages of the war years, less than 6,000 per year, were not enough to keep the coin circulating. In circulation simultaneously there was the quarter eagle with much larger war mintages. Evidently there was little need for the three-dollar gold piece.