1856-S Gold Dollar

BillJones

Here is my 'big purchase" for the Baltimore show, an 1856-S gold dollar. This was the last coin I needed to finish a set of Type II gold dollars, which consists of just six coins. The trouble is despite the shortness of the series, every coin in it ranges from tough (the Philadelphia coins) to a major challenge (the 1855-D).

It is my assumption that the Philadelphia Mint personnel really wanted to get more gold dollars into circulation on the West Coast. Therefore they sent out perhaps two sets of the dies to San Francisco early in 1856 before the Type III gold dollars dies were completed. As a result the 1856-S gold dollar has the Type II design while the rest of the 1856 gold dollars are Type III coins.

This piece is the "double S" variety which shows the "ghost S" mint mark that is northeast of the final mint letter. This variety is not rare. In fact roughly half of the known 1856-S have it. There is another die variety which does not show this feature. My assumption is that the Philadelphia Mint sent two sets of the dies to San Francisco in 1856. Chances are both reverse dies were used, but only one of the obverse made its way to the coin press.

PCGS graded this piece AU-55. The mark to the right of the "U" in "UNITED" is over emphasized in my photo. It is really very trivial and almost invisible when the coin is "in hand."

lordmarcovan

Great little early S-mint coin.

TopographicOceans

Congratulations on the pick-up as well as completing the set.


And thanks for the interesting back story on the dies.

BillJones

By the mid 1850s it took from 6 to 8 weeks to get the dies to the West Coast.

sparky64

Congratulations on completing your set.

Looks like you picked a winner to do the job.



Also appreciate the history lesson as well.

lkeigwin

Congrats, Bill, on completing the set! Looks like you made a nice addition. It would be fun to get the six coins imaged/TV'd and present them all together.

Lance.

BillJones

Originally posted by: lkeigwin
Congrats, Bill, on completing the set! Looks like you made a nice addition. It would be fun to get the six coins imaged/TV'd and present them all together.
Lance.

Here is a registry link:

Bill's Type II Gold Dollar Collection

nankraut

Great post, Mr. Jones; thanks 4 sharing.

mrcommem

Bill,

Nice acquisition and congratulations on completing of your type set. I am looking for the same coin for a gold dollar branch mint set nearing completion. If you get tired of it, let me know as it will fit perfectly in my collection.

ambro51

I've enjoyed your serious pursuit of these little golden sweethearts. You've made Gold Dollars "legit" here, and I wish you well on a goal to completion. You do know lurking like a pair of 800 pound Gorillas in the room are the 1854 and 1855 Proofs. These are the true showpieces of the Type 2 design with subltle differences in relief and small details in their dies as compared to the business strikes. Pity is, and a true pity....these are amazingly rare, amazingly beautiful and amazingly expensive. Bill, keep buying lottery tickets and if you hit big I want you hunt down the Proofs too!

ambro51

Bill BTW you should add the 1854 Doubled Die variety with the triple row of beads to your collection. Much rarer but possible to "cherry pick", I bought mine from a major dealer who had no idea. But since GDs are thinly collected anyway it's rarity alone won't really command a premium. Strange, that.

ambro51

BTW here's the 56S I had.

MidLifeCrisis

Congratulations!

SeattleSlammer

Whoa, very nice, thanks for sharing.

ricko

Thanks for the history Bill... very nice addition to your collection..Congratulations on

the completion of the set. Cheers, RickO

asheland

I like her!

Bullsitter

Nice addition and set, low survival # on that '56-S.

AMRC

Love the old gold. Nice.

johnny9434

nice pick up and nice coin

golden

Originally posted by: sparky64
Congratulations on completing your set.
Looks like you picked a winner to do the job.

Also appreciate the history lesson as well.

SullivanNumismatics

Nice set, and congrats on finishing it. I like the 1855-D in particular.

BustCuds

Congratulations on completing your set. Tough Gold Dollar issue

OldEastside

That is a very cool set Bill, Congrats



Steve