1854-D Gold $1 (1854-D Gold Dollar) NGC MS61. This rare Southern branch mint, mint state 1854-D Gold Eollar, in an old NGC holder, shows a better than average strike with full details on the obverse stars and the reverse wreath. This date is usually found well worn or harshly cleaned. The present piece shows no wear, as expected for a mint state coin. It surfaces are hard, original, clean, and, for the grade, free of distractions. The horizontal lines next to the mintmark are raised die lines and are diagnostic. Bright mint luster shows within the devices and in protected areas of both sides.

Prior to gold dollars being issued in 1849, private minters supplied miners with a means of converting their oar and gold dust into currency. However, since the coins produced were variable in fineness and often counterfeited, a bill was introduced in 1844 for the government to make gold dollars. Mint Director Robert Patterson was opposed. He lied when he claimed that there was no public demand for these coins. The truth is that Patterson did not want James Longacre making new dies because it might interfere with his friend Franklin Peales medal-making business that was being run out of the Mint. Patterson hoped that Longacres job would be abolished if new coinage was not needed. Despite Pattersons objections, Longacre prevailed and made the new dies for the gold dollar, which became an alternative to the silver dollar.

James B. Longacre designed three gold dollar types. The first was the Liberty Head, the present coin that was minted from 1849 to 1854. The obverse shows Liberty facing left. On her head is a coronet inscribed LIBERTY in incuse letters. Her hair is combed back into a hair knot. Loose hair encircles her head beneath the coronet, and several curls hang down her neck. Encircling her head are thirteen six-pointed stars. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin. The reverse has an open wreath of berries tied in a bow at the bottom. A large numeral one is near the top. The word DOLLAR is underneath, and the date is below the denomination. The inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc around the wreath. The mintmark is below the knot of the bow.

One thousand coins were struck on May 8, 1849. Today these are known as the No L variety because Longacres initial did not appear on the coin. Since the dies quickly cracked, new ones were prepared with the motif slightly redesigned. Most Type 1 gold dollars were struck in Philadelphia. These are the most common coins of the type today. They were also minted in the branch mints, Charlotte, Dahlonega, New Orleans, and San Francisco. The coins from these mints are much rarer than those of Philadelphia. The 1849-C Open Wreath gold dollar is the rarest with only four examples known today. While most dates and mints are available in circulated condition, only Philadelphia specimens are easily obtainable in mint state.

The 1854-D gold dollar had a very small mintage of 2,935. It is the fourth rarest D-mint gold dollar and is fundamentally rare in all conditions. In its population report, NGC shows this coin tied for third finest with 16 in MS61 and 9 better.