1889

The 1889 is the final issue of the three-dollar gold series, closing a denomination that the Coinage Act of September 26, 1890 formally abolished alongside the gold dollar. With 2,429 circulation strikes from Philadelphia, the date is not the rarest of the run, but it carries the historical weight of being the last. The three-dollar piece had been a commercial misfit from the outset: the gold dollar handled small change, the half eagle handled larger payments, and the odd intermediate value was redundant in everyday transactions. By the late 1880s the Mint was striking the denomination almost entirely to fulfill obligations to depositors who specifically requested it, and Director James Kimball's reports openly questioned the coin's continued utility. When the 1890 act passed, no one outside a small group of collectors mourned the loss.

Authentication of an 1889 begins with weight: a genuine piece tips the scale at 5.015 grams within roughly half a percent, and anything outside the 4.95 to 5.08 gram band warrants suspicion. The reverse must show James B. Longacre's Type 2 wreath layout, with the larger DOLLARS lettering and the wreath open at the top, struck against a 20.5 millimeter planchet with a fully formed reeded edge. Cast counterfeits, the most common fakes for late-series three-dollar gold, betray themselves through pebbly or grainy fields, mushy detail in the headdress feathers, weak denticles, and a faint seam where the mold halves met along the edge. Original mint luster on a genuine coin is satiny rather than the dull, frosted appearance typical of struck-from-cast forgeries.

Market activity reflects both the modest mintage and the terminal-date premium. PCGS estimates roughly 40 to 60 survivors across all grades, with About Uncirculated and lower Mint State examples trading in the $2,500 to $7,500 range and choice MS-63 to MS-64 pieces reaching $10,000 to $20,000 at auction. Certified holders with CAC approval bring meaningful premiums, and original surfaces matter more than raw grade. See the full Three-Dollar Gold series history.