US Gold Coins

The history of the US gold coins started in 1795 when the first 5 and 10 dollar gold coins were minted and officially (not counting bullion gold coins) ended in 1933, when production of gold coins for circulation was ceased in the United States. During this time, the US Mint produced seven denominations: $1 (Gold Dollar), $2.5 (Quarter Eagle), $3 (Three-Dollar Piece), $4 (Stella), $5 (Half Eagle), $10 (Eagle), and $20 (Double Eagle); some of them were widely circulated and some had never been officially released.

One Dollar gold coin or the Gold Dollar was minted in period from 1849 to 1889, and even though it was the smallest denomination of gold coinage in the US, it's not the base unit of gold currency (gold $10 or the Eagle was) as it wasn't intended to produce gold dollars at the beginning.

An interesting fact is that the gold one-dollar coins were first minted not by the US Mint, but by a jeweller named Alt Christoph Bechtler of North Carolina in 1830s, and it took over 10 years for the US government to start producing official gold one-dollar coins.

There were two main designs of the coin: the Liberty Head type (1849-1854), and the Indian Head type (1854-1889). The Indian Head type had two types as well: the Small Head (1854-1856) and the Large Head (1856-1889). All three types had gold composition of 0.900 and even the diameter of the coin had changed from 13 to 15 mm, the gold contents was the same - 0.04837 troy ounce of pure gold.

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$2.5 or the Quarter Eagle gold coin was minted from 1796 to 1929, almost whole time during the circulation of gold coins in the United States. The coin was minted in five different designs: Turban Head (1796-1807), Draped Bust (1808), Capped Head (1821-1834), Classic Head (1834-1839), Liberty Head (1840-1907), and Indian Head (1908-1915, 1925-1929). The weight and gold composition of the coin was varying at the beginning until it was set to a standard of 0.900 (as many other US gold coins), and its gold contents was 0.121 troy ounce of fine gold.

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$3 or the Three-Dollar Piece gold coin, sometimes also called the Indian Princess, was minted from 1854 to 1889. The reason behind its unusual denomination was the fact that the coin was issued to align with the selling of post stamps, which were sold at 3 cents a piece at the time, and 3 dollars was exactly the price to buy a whole sheet of them. Just imagine what coins we'd be chasing now if they sold stamps say in sheets of 48 or 144 pieces (just in the case you started multiplying, it would be $1.44 and $4.32 respectively). The coin had gold composition of 0.900 as many other US gold coins.

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$4 or the Stella is a pattern gold coin produced only in 1897 and 1880 as the US were considering joining the Latin Monetary Union at the time, which was in fact one of the 19th century attempt to unify currencies in Europe and was tying up coinage of over 10 countries in Europe to some extend for over than 50 years. The US nevertheless abandoned the idea of joining, but not before a few hundreds of the pattern coins were minted and sold. The coin had rather unusual gold composition for the US gold coins of 0.930.

Do not expect to see more than a restrike or a reproduction, but hope dies last, as you know. Click here to see if any Stella gold coins are selling now.

$5 or the Half Eagle gold coin was minted from 1795 to 1929. The Half Eagle got its name because it's a half of ten dollars, and the gold ten-dollar coin in its turn is a base unit for gold currency and named the Gold Eagle. The design of the coin changed many time during the years of mintage and there're about 18 different variations, including six main types: the Turban Head, Draped Bust, Capped Head, Classic Head, Liberty Head, and Indian Head.

The weight and gold composition varied over the years as well, until it was set to 8.35 g and 0.900 fineness, containing 0.242 troy ounce of pure gold. An interesting fact about the Half Eagle is that it's the only gold coin that was minted in all 8 Mints of the US.

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$10 or the Eagle gold coin was a base unit denomination for gold coinage in the United States. The coin was minted from 1795 to 1933 and is the only coin that was minted during the whole period of circulation of gold currency in the United States. There were major designs of the coin: the Turban Head, Liberty Head, and Indian Head. The two former ones had two different types each. Gold composition of the coin varied as for many others US gold coins, but at the end was set to a standard of 0.900 fineness, containing 0.4839 troy ounce of fine gold.

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$20 or the Double Eagle gold coin was minted from 1849 to 1933. The Double Eagle got its name because it's twice as much as ten dollars (the Eagle). The coin had two different designs: the Liberty Head (1849-1907) and St. Gaudens (1907-1933), and both designs have three different variation types. The coin has gold composition of 0.900 and contains 0.9677 troy ounce of fine gold.

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The history of the US gold coins is reach and full of interesting and beautiful coins. This article was not intended to be a comprehensive guide for the US gold coins, but rather a brief reference for people starting collecting gold coins and US gold coins in particular.

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