Gold Dollar Value Chart: Every Date From 1849 to 1889

The dates to check first

These are the lowest-mintage gold dollars struck for circulation. If you're sorting a jar or an inherited collection, pull these dates out before anything else and check the mint mark carefully.

1. 1875 Gold Dollar: 400 made.
2. 1856-D Gold Dollar: 1,460 made.
3. 1860-D Gold Dollar: 1,566 made.
4. 1880 Gold Dollar: 1,600 made.
5. 1855-D Gold Dollar: 1,811 made.
6. 1854-D Gold Dollar, Type 1: 2,935 made.

Every gold dollar by date and mint

Click any date for its full page: how many were made, the mint mark location, varieties and what to check. Mint marks matter: the same year can be common from one mint and scarce from another.

The series in 5 stages

Small Type 1 dollars of the gold rush (1849 to 1853)

The Act of March 3, 1849 created the gold dollar to make use of the flood of California gold. James B. Longacre's Type 1 coin is tiny, about 13 mm across, with a Liberty head and a wreath reverse. Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dahlonega and New Orleans all struck it in 1849. By 1853 Philadelphia was producing millions a year.

Type 1 ends and the Indian Princess (1854 to 1856)

In 1854 the gold dollar was made thinner and wider, about 15 mm, to make it easier to handle. Longacre's Type 2 design shows Liberty wearing a feathered headdress. Type 1 coins were still struck early in 1854 at Philadelphia and Dahlonega. San Francisco struck its first gold dollars that year, all of the Type 1 design.

Type 3 at the southern mints (1857 to 1861)

The Type 3 design used a larger, flatter head that struck up better than Type 2. Philadelphia made hundreds of thousands each year, but Charlotte and Dahlonega produced only a few thousand and these coins are scarce. San Francisco struck 10,000 to 15,000 a year. Charlotte struck its last gold dollars in 1859.

Wartime suspension and tiny mintages (1862 to 1879)

Banks stopped paying out gold at the end of 1861 and gold coins disappeared from eastern circulation. After a large 1862 mintage of 1,361,355, Philadelphia struck only a few thousand gold dollars a year through most of the 1860s and 1870s. Gold remained at a premium over paper money until specie payments resumed at the start of 1879.

Hoarded final decade (1880 to 1889)

Gold dollars of the 1880s were struck only at Philadelphia in small numbers, from 1,600 in 1880 to 28,950 in 1889. Speculators, jewelers and gift buyers took many of them. A large share therefore survives in uncirculated condition, often with prooflike surfaces that can be mistaken for proofs.

Decade by decade

• 1840s: 4 issues, 936,789 coins. Scarcest: 1849-C (11,634).
• 1850s: 38 issues, 16 million coins. Scarcest: 1856-D (1,460).
• 1860s: 12 issues, 2 million coins. Scarcest: 1860-D (1,566).
• 1870s: 11 issues, 354,100 coins. Scarcest: 1875 (400).
• 1880s: 10 issues, 98,357 coins. Scarcest: 1880 (1,600).

Where to find the mint mark

• 1849 to 1889: On the reverse, below the wreath. Philadelphia coins have no mint mark. A "D" on a coin dated 1861 or earlier means Dahlonega, Georgia.

Identifying and grading gold dollars

Look at the hair above the eye and the bow of the wreath. Many gold dollars were made into jewelry, so check for solder marks or removed loops.

The smallest US coin ever struck came in three types. Type 1 (1849 to 1854) shows a tiny Liberty head and measures only 13 mm. Type 2 (1854 to 1856) is larger and thinner, with Liberty wearing a feathered headdress. Type 3 (1856 to 1889) enlarges the portrait. Every type has a wreath on the reverse around 1 DOLLAR and the date.

What the value bands mean

• Face value: worth its face in worn condition; only uncirculated coins and varieties carry a premium.
• Metal value: worth its gold content in worn condition.
• Small premium: sells for a little over face or metal value even when worn.
• Collector premium: scarcer than usual, so worn coins sell well above face or metal value.
• Significant rarity: a key date, valuable in any condition and often faked.

Bands describe a coin in ordinary circulated condition. An uncirculated coin with full original luster sits a band or more higher. Recognized varieties can be worth far more than the date itself.