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1 Dollar, United States, 1856

National Museum of American History

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Object Details

mint
U.S. Mint. Philadelphia
designer
Longacre, James Barton
Description
United States Mint, Philadelphia. Obverse: Liberty with feather headdress, facing left. Reverse: Denomination and date within cereal wreath. James B. Longacre's second attempt at designing a gold dollar proved unsatisfactory. His concept had featured a head in fairly high relief, and it soon became apparent that the design did not wear well, and that high relief on one side meant an indistinct strike on the other.
So the Longacre went back to the drawing board and came up with yet a third design, copying the new head from the one he had placed on the three dollar piece two years before. This design wore much better. It was retained for the remaining years of production of gold dollars until 1889. Fewer than ten proof gold dollars are known for 1856.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Estate of Josiah K. Lilly
1856
ID Number
NU.68.159.0439
accession number
283645
catalog number
68.159.0439
Object Name
coin
Physical Description
gold (overall metal)
0 (overall die axis)
0 (overall die axis measurement)
struck (overall production method)
Measurements
overall: .1 cm x 1.5 cm; 1/32 in x 19/32 in
place of issue
United States
Related Publication
Glossary of Coins and Currency Terms
Related Web Publication
http://americanhistory.si.edu/coins/glossary.cfm
See more items in
Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
Josiah K. Lilly Jr. Collection
Coins, Currency and Medals
National Museum of American History
Record ID
nmah_1079448
Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-1a84-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Related Content

  • National Numismatic Collection:Introduction

    American History Museum
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