Three Dollar

Notes: 1859 $3 PR66 Cameo NGC. Ex: Kupersmith Collection. The 1859 proof three dollar issue is shrouded in mystery. The original mintage is recorded as 80 pieces in Mint records, although some authors, including David Akers, have stated an unknown mintage. It is probably the case that 80 was the actual proof mintage in 1859. However, mintage figures only tell part of the story.

The number of pieces actually distributed to collectors and other individuals in 1859 is more important than the mintage. Dave Bowers (2005) writes: "Although Mint records indicate 80 Proofs were struck, it must have been the case that no more than a third were ever distributed." A year later, Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth suggested a slightly higher figure: "The number of survivors ... supports a true mintage figure of about three-dozen coins." The number of known specimens is also uncertain. Our roster shows 17 different pieces, including four in museums, although there is the possibility of duplication among a few listings. Norman Stack estimated six to 10 pieces in 1974, David Akers said six to eight pieces in 1974, revising his estimate upward to 10 to 12 in 1976. Dave Bowers mentioned 11 to 13 proofs in 2005. Regardless of the number known, we believe this piece, from the Eliasberg and Trompeter collections, is the finest or second finest known. NGC and PCGS have certified 17 pieces ranging from PR61 to PR67. The single Superb Gem, certified PR67 Cameo NGC, is currently unlocated.

Designer: James Barton Longacre

History:

Chief Engraver James Barton Longacre created an “Indian Princess” for his obverse of this design. However, the model was not a Native American profile, but actually a profile modeled after the Greco-Roman Venus Accroupie statue then in a Philadelphia museum. Longacre used this distinctive sharp-nosed profile on his gold dollar of 1849 and would employ it again on the Indian Head cent of 1859. On the three-dollar coin Liberty is wearing a feathered headdress of equal-sized plumes with a band bearing LIBERTY in raised letters. She’s surrounded by the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Such a headdress dates back to the earliest known drawings of American Indians by French artist Jacques le Moyne du Morgue’s sketches of the Florida Timucua tribe who lived near the tragic French colony of Fort Caroline in 1562. It was accepted by engravers and medalists of the day as the design shorthand for “America.”

This design and it's variations appear on the dollar and three-dollar coins. A similar (but disctinctly different) pattern appears on the "Indian Cent".