1850 G$1 Liberty Head Gold Dollar PCGS MS64

Here is a beautiful, delicate treasure from the days of the California Gold Rush. U.S. Mint Chief Engraver James B. Longacre crafted this beautiful rendering of Liberty for the gold dollar. It appears that this design was the inspiration and model for the numerous and popular Fractional California Gold coin varieties that were produced beginning in 1852. PCGS has graded 44 as MS64 with 38 finer. This specimen displays some weakness of strike on the reverse. The ‘1’ above DOLLAR is weakly struck, as are the ‘1’ and ‘0’ in the date ‘1850.’

Statue of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton outside the Treasury building in Washington, D.C. He wrote in his Report on the Establishment of a Mint (1790-91) that there should be both a gold and silver dollar or unit. However, it took until 1849 for the U.S. gold dollar to be first struck.

When Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton crafted his Mint Report that served as the model for the Coinage Act of 1792, he recommended a bimetallic monetary standard that included both gold and silver. The monetary unit was based upon the dollar, which he foresaw as being struck in both gold and silver. Hamilton was very specific in recommending the following: gold pieces of both 10 dollars or units and 1 dollar or unit, a silver tenth of a dollar or unit, a copper cent, and a copper half cent. However, Congress did not heed the Treasury Secretary on the gold dollar or unit, and it was not until 1849 that a gold $1 coin was produced by the U.S. Mint. Such coins were authorized by Congress in 1849, in part to take advantage of the voluminous amount of gold found during the California Gold Rush.