1849-P Open Wreath

The Open Wreath reverse is the earliest die state in the entire Liberty Head gold dollar series, used at Philadelphia in the opening run of 1849 before the Closed Wreath die replaced it later that same year. The Coinage Act of March 3, 1849 authorized the new $1 gold denomination to absorb California Gold Rush bullion arriving in Philadelphia, and the first dies into the press carried a wider gap between the wreath ends at the bottom of the reverse. James B. Longacre, who had taken over as Mint Chief Engraver in 1844, supplied the design as his first major coin work seen through to circulation. Philadelphia struck 688,567 gold dollars across all 1849 reverse and obverse states; the Open Wreath share is the smaller portion, after which the Closed Wreath die ran through the rest of Type 1 to its 1854 close.

The diagnostic for Open Wreath attribution is the visible separation at the bottom of the wreath where the two ends fail to meet, contrasted with the Closed Wreath in which the ends nearly touch. Mintmark counterfeits do not apply here since this is a Philadelphia issue without a mintmark, but cast counterfeits and gold-plated copies do circulate on early gold dollars; weight should fall at 1.672 grams and diameter at 13 mm, the smallest U.S. gold coin ever struck. Strike on Philadelphia 1849 dollars is generally cleaner than on the southern branches, although Open Wreath examples can show light reverse softness from the earliest die pairings. PCGS and NGC will attribute the wreath state on the holder, which is the only sensible way to buy a raw piece.

The Open Wreath sits as a recognized transitional sub-variety within a broadly available first-year Philadelphia issue, and circulated examples turn up regularly at Heritage and Stack's Bowers sales. Mint State Open Wreath coins command stronger premiums than their Closed Wreath counterparts, reflecting a thinner survivor population in higher grades. For series context and the wreath-state progression through Type 1, see the Liberty Head Gold Dollar series history.