1855

The 1855 three-dollar gold piece marks the introduction of the Type 2 reverse, a working revision James B. Longacre prepared after his first-year coin showed weak letter definition on the wreath legend. Longacre enlarged the word DOLLARS noticeably, sharpened the spacing, and adjusted the relief so the reverse would strike up cleanly across the planchet. That standard would carry forward to the close of the series in 1889. The denomination itself had been authorized by Congress in 1853 to retire small silver from commerce and to provide a convenient coin for purchasing sheets of one hundred three-cent stamps, but the novelty had already faded by the second year. Philadelphia struck only 50,555 pieces in 1855, well off the 138,618 produced in 1854 and a clear sign that demand was settling toward the modest level the denomination would hold for the next three decades.

Authentication starts at the reverse legend. A genuine 1855 shows the new Type 2 lettering, with DOLLARS rendered in tall, broad letters that fill the lower wreath cleanly and contrast plainly with the cramped small DOLLARS of the 1854 Type 1. Any 1855 carrying the small-letter reverse should be set aside as suspicious. Weight on a calibrated scale must read 5.015 grams within tolerance for normal wear, and the edge should show full reeding without filing or seam evidence. The high relief at the feathered headdress and the wreath bow tends to soften first under circulation, so a struck example with crisp feather tip definition and a complete bow knot signals a coin that lived a relatively gentle life.

For modern collectors the 1855 sits at an accessible point in the series, available across circulated grades and obtainable in lower Mint State with patience. Choice About Uncirculated and low Mint State examples turn up at major auctions several times a year. The coin is not a key date, but as the first year of the long-running Type 2 reverse it carries genuine type-set significance and pairs naturally with an 1854 Type 1 to illustrate the design transition. Original surfaces with honey-gold color and undisturbed fields draw the strongest premiums, since dipped or altered examples are common at this date. See the full Three-Dollar Gold series history.