1854 G$1 Indian Princess Gold Dollar, Type 2 PCGS MS63

Greatly desired type in the popular PCGS Old Green Holder!

Numismatists just adore the gold Indian Princess design created by James B. Longacre, for its simple beauty and grace. PCGS has awarded the grade of MS63 to 320 specimens  with 303 finer. Collectors Universe gives this issue a price of $5,000.00 in MS63. Q. David Bowers tells us that the gold Type 2 Indian Princess gold dollar of 1854-1856 is the key to a gold dollar type set, and that collector demand for this type has pushed prices upwards. Bowers writes, "In absolute terms, the gold dollars of this type are not rare, but in relative terms, there is such an extensive demand for coins of this design that market activity is intense."

Artist James B. Longacre, who crafted the beautiful Indian Princess design. Photo: wikipedia.

Numismatic art scholar Cornelius Vermeule writes, "The 'princess'... is a banknote engraver's elegant version of folk art of the 1850s. The plumes or feathers are more like the crest of the Prince of Wales than anything that saw the Western frontiers, save perhaps on a music hall beauty. Iconographically this type of Indian maiden had occurred in American and 'primitive' paintings for many years past. The figureheads of ships and the sculptures before tobacconists' shops sported faces, tresses, and bonnets of this type."