1862 $3 (1862 Three Dollar Gold) NGC MS64. This Civil War date, mint state, Three-Dollar gold piece is clean, original, and, for the grade, free of the usual heavy die striations that are typical for the date. The strike is above average in sharpness seen on most of the tips of the feathers, the lines of Libertys hair below the headband, the wreath details, the two central numerals of the date, and the vertical division of the ribbon knot. The coin is lustrous, especially in protected areas on both sides.

James Longacre designed the Three-Dollar Gold coin using the Indian Princess for his main device. He had to create a motif that would be distinctly different from the quarter and half eagle coronet designs. The design, similar to his Gold Dollar Large Head, shows a head of Liberty facing left in profile wearing a stylized headdress. Inscribed on the headband is LIBERTY. She is surrounded by the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. In using the Indian Princess design, Longacre felt that he was creating something that was uniquely American rather than an adoption from the classics. The reverse shows an open wreath of corn, cotton, wheat, and tobacco tied at the bottom with a bow. The denomination 3 appears at the top center of the wreath, with DOLLARS and the date below within the wreath. Longacre liked the wreath design so much that he adopted it for use on the small cent of 1856.

In 1851 a law was passed that authorized a three cent piece and also made the postage rate three cents. Two years later a new law was passed authorizing a light weight silver three cent coin and a Three-Dollar Gold coin. Evidently lawmakers believed that the gold coin would be useful to buy rolls of three cent coins and sheets of stamps. Its closeness to the quarter eagle, which was widely used, made the denomination somewhat illogical, and the public proved indifferent to them.

In 1854 the first and largest mintage was produced. Many were saved as souvenirs. Others briefly circulated and ended up being used for jewelry. Only 1854 had smaller letters in DOLLARS. The other dates all have large letters for the denomination. Mintages were limited after 1854. The 1873 issue had two varieties, an open 3, which was the original, and a closed 3. In 1872 dies with closed 3 were made for all denominations. Chief Coiner Snowden complained that the 3 could easily be taken for an 8. New dies were prepared with open 3s.

James Barton Longacre was born in Pennsylvania in 1794. When he first came to work at the Mint, he was opposed by Franklin Peale, the Chief Coiner. Peale was probably responsible for some blundered dies that Longacre was criticized for making. Peal was involved in a private, illegal medal manufacturing business using Mint facilities. He was concerned that this new political appointee would interfere with his business, and he resisted Longacres appointment as Chief Engraver. In the end Peale was found out and fired in 1854. Longacre flourished in his position and was responsible for creating many new designs including the Indian Head cent, the Two-cent piece, the Shield nickel, the Liberty Head gold dollar, the Indian Princess gold dollars, the Three dollar gold piece, and, the Liberty Head double eagle.

Until 1861 the three-dollar gold coin circulated in the East and Midwest. After 1861, when the war was being fought, they disappeared from circulation. The low mintages of the war years, less than 6,000 per year, were not enough to keep the coin circulating. In circulation simultaneously there was the quarter eagle with much larger war mintages. Evidently there was little need for the three-dollar gold piece.

While the original purpose of the Three-Dollar Gold piece was to facilitate the purchase of sheets of stamps, today it often serves to complete a type set of gold coins. The present piece, while certainly more than a type coin, would make a lovely addition to gold collection. With an original mintage of 5,750, the 1862 is a fundamentally rare coin in all conditions. However, the current interest in authentic Civil War artifacts has placed additional pressure on all dates of this time. In its population report, NGC shows this coin as the third finest with 4 others in MS64 with 4 better.