This satiny honey-gold 1855-S is from the first year of $3 gold production at the San Francisco Mint. Splashes of bright yellow-gold frost grace the protected design areas, and a whisper of pale olive iridescence springs to life in a bold light source. The strike is reasonably sharp throughout with only very slight weakness in Liberty’s highest hair tresses. The Pogue coin is choice for the grade with excellent all-around eye appeal. Low magnification reveals a tiny obverse planchet flake at the dentils at 6:00, as struck, and some tiny faint marks pointing at the E in AMERICA. Other tiny ticks and blemishes come to light upon careful study and hairlines can be found on both sides when a loupe is used. A series of tiny raised die chips can be seen on the obverse in the field around OF and the first A in AMERICA. All told, this pleasing 1855-S $3 is a rare prize. San Francisco struck $3 coins for the first time in 1855, but demand was modest. Most depositors requested double eagles, as for a given amount of gold they were easier to count. The facility also struck its first silver coins this year. Only 6,600 examples of the threes were produced and all entered day-to-day commercial use, there being no numismatic interest at the time. Today’s typical surviving 1855-S $3 is VF or occasionally EF, with AU and finer pieces truly rare. A solitary Proof was struck and sent to Philadelphia for inclusion in the Mint Cabinet. Today it is a treasure in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. PCGS# 7973. NGC ID: 25M7.
