Why Did The U.S. Mint Create A $3 Gold Piece?
The $3 gold piece never made much sense to anyone, because of its odd value. It was produced from 1854 to 1889, and only 138,618 coins were actually minted during that time. This is the only time in U.S. history that such a limited quantity of coins was made over such a length of time.
The $3 gold piece was originally produced in Philadelphia, but occasionally produced elsewhere on one or two occasions. There had been $2.50 gold coins dating back to 1796, but these were rarely used, so no one can exactly determine the importance of having a $3 piece in the currency circulation. There wasn’t a public need for the coin, so why was it created?
It is believed that since there was a three-cent piece, that there should also be a $3 gold piece to allow for a symmetrical following of denominations between dollars and cents. However valid this may be in the logic, it didn’t make sense to many people for many different reasons. Especially when you consider that the three-cent piece was only created to help with a coin shortage, there really is no following to point to needing the $3 gold coin.
The time when this coin was given a chance was a time of gold mining craziness in California, which probably pushed law makers to make more gold coins for the Western U.S., which was completely infatuated with gold and all that it had to offer. They created the $3 gold piece, but didn’t approve anything larger than that, which they probably presumed was a harmless measure to take. James B. Longacre was responsible for the design of this coin, which featured an ‘Indian Princess’ design. It had to be made differently than a quarter eagle, though, so that the two weren’t confused since their weight was similar.
In order to keep these different, the $3 coin was thinner and much larger in size than the quarter eagle. However, the design was easily distinguished from the Coronet Head that is printed on the quarter eagle coin. It is speculated that the coin was only kept in production so long and in such small numbers because it didn’t really affect anything. It didn’t provide a high demand, but it also didn’t get in the way, which caused no need for alarm within the Mint and the U.S. Treasury.
Because of their limited production, most of these coins hold a significant value for collectors today which is ironic because they never really served much purpose as a form of currency when they were created.