Lot 4524
1855-D $1 Gold Indian. ANACS graded Details of EF-40. Although marked "altered surfaces" it is not apparent, even under magnification! A decent strike with clean surfaces and all lightly toned. The numeral 8 in the date is not fully struck up as is usual for this issue. Always in demand as the only Dahlonega Type 2 gold dollar. One of the rarest gold dollars. The mint struck a mere 1,811 pieces in 1855; only 1856-D has a lower mintage within the series (PCGS # 7534) .
Issues were brief and limited in the Type 2 Indian design: 1854-55 Philadelphia, 1855 from the three Southern branch mints, 1856 San Francisco after the device had been condemned by the mint as unworkable. The 1856-S dies were shipped west in 1855 before Mint Director Snowden's decision to redesign the obverse. In all, only 1,704,985 gold dollars were issued for circulation with this obverse and reverse design: about one-seventh the mintage of small-size dollars.
The reason the coins proved unsatisfactory from the beginning was that Longacre had miscalculated, overestimating the power of coining presses then in use to create a full impression on the thin planchets. This error most of all affected the C- and D-Mint issues, since these branches were using presses installed in 1838 (up-to-date at the time but not the latest 1850s minting equipment).
Estimated Value $4,000 - 4,500.
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| Realized $4,600 |
