$1 Liberty Gold Dollars (Type 1) overview
The $1 Liberty Gold Dollar (Type 1) is the first of three distinct design types issued under the United States gold dollar series, struck from 1849 through 1854. Authorized by Congress in the wake of the California Gold Rush, the one-dollar gold piece became the smallest denomination coin produced in gold by the U.S.
Updated June 2026
$1 Liberty Gold Dollars (Type 1)
The $1 Liberty Gold Dollar (Type 1) is the first of three distinct design types issued under the United States gold dollar series, struck from 1849 through 1854. Authorized by Congress in the wake of the California Gold Rush, the one-dollar gold piece became the smallest denomination coin produced in gold by the U.S. Mint. The Type 1 obverse features a small, unadorned Liberty head facing left, wearing a coronet inscribed "LIBERTY," surrounded by thirteen stars and the date. The reverse displays an agricultural wreath encircling the denomination and "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." Struck in .900 fine gold, each coin contains just under one-twentieth of a troy ounce of pure gold, giving it a notably diminutive diameter of roughly 13 mm. Within numismatics, Type 1 gold dollars occupy a foundational place in 19th-century U.S. coinage. The series was produced at multiple mint facilities — Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dahlonega, New Orleans, and San Francisco — making branch-mint issues particularly sought after among date-and-mintmark collectors. Circulated examples are graded across the standard Sheldon scale, while surviving uncirculated and Mint State specimens represent a considerably smaller segment of the population. Proof strikings exist for most Philadelphia dates but are rare across the board. On CoinDuffle, this category brings together Type 1 gold dollars from a range of dates (1849–1854), grades, and mint facilities, listed by professional numismatic dealers. Buyers will find circulated pieces in grades from Fine through AU, alongside select Mint State and slider examples. Both raw (unslabbed) coins and PCGS- or NGC-certified examples appear across listings, spanning common Philadelphia dates and scarcer branch-mint pieces.
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About $1 Liberty Gold Dollars (Type 1)
The $1 Liberty Gold Dollar (Type 1) is the first of three distinct design types issued under the United States gold dollar series, struck from 1849 through 1854. Authorized by Congress in the wake of the California Gold Rush, the one-dollar gold piece became the smallest denomination coin produced in gold by the U.S. Mint. The Type 1 obverse features a small, unadorned Liberty head facing left, wearing a coronet inscribed "LIBERTY," surrounded by thirteen stars and the date. The reverse displays an agricultural wreath encircling the denomination and "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." Struck in .900 fine gold, each coin contains just under one-twentieth of a troy ounce of pure gold, giving it a notably diminutive diameter of roughly 13 mm.
Within numismatics, Type 1 gold dollars occupy a foundational place in 19th-century U.S. coinage. The series was produced at multiple mint facilities — Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dahlonega, New Orleans, and San Francisco — making branch-mint issues particularly sought after among date-and-mintmark collectors. Circulated examples are graded across the standard Sheldon scale, while surviving uncirculated and Mint State specimens represent a considerably smaller segment of the population. Proof strikings exist for most Philadelphia dates but are rare across the board.
On CoinDuffle, this category brings together Type 1 gold dollars from a range of dates (1849–1854), grades, and mint facilities, listed by professional numismatic dealers. Buyers will find circulated pieces in grades from Fine through AU, alongside select Mint State and slider examples. Both raw (unslabbed) coins and PCGS- or NGC-certified examples appear across listings, spanning common Philadelphia dates and scarcer branch-mint pieces.
Frequently asked questions
The Type 1 Liberty Gold Dollar is the first design variant of the U.S. one-dollar gold coin, issued from 1849 to 1854. It features a small Liberty head on the obverse and an agricultural wreath on the reverse. Struck in .900 fine gold, it is the smallest U.S. gold coin by diameter ever produced for circulation, measuring approximately 13 mm across.
Type 1 gold dollars were struck from 1849 through 1854 at up to five mint facilities: Philadelphia (no mint mark), Charlotte (C), Dahlonega (D), New Orleans (O), and San Francisco (S). Philadelphia issues are the most commonly encountered. Branch-mint coins — particularly those from Charlotte and Dahlonega — tend to survive in smaller numbers and are generally scarcer across all grades.
Type 1 gold dollars are composed of .900 fine gold (90% gold, 10% copper alloy), with a total weight of 1.672 grams. This translates to approximately 0.04837 troy ounces of pure gold per coin. The alloy composition was standard for U.S. gold coinage of the era and remained consistent across all mint facilities producing the series.
The Type 1 is distinguished by its small Liberty head design with a plain coronet. Beginning in 1854, the Mint introduced the Type 2, which featured a larger Indian princess head — a response to striking difficulties caused by the coin's small size. The Type 3 (1856–1889) refined that larger portrait further. Type 1 coins are generally the smallest-diameter pieces of the three types.
Type 1 gold dollars most frequently appear in circulated grades ranging from Very Good (VG-8) through About Uncirculated (AU-58), reflecting their use in everyday commerce during the 1850s. Mint State (MS-60 and above) examples exist but are considerably scarcer, especially for branch-mint dates. Proof coins were struck in limited quantities at Philadelphia and are rare in all grades.