1856-S Gold Dollar. Type II. FS-501. Repunched Mintmark. AU-58 (NGC).Appealing honey-olive surfaces with uncommonly full striking detail for a Type II gold dollar. Faint traces of satiny luster in the protected areas around the devices further enhance the appeal of this desirable Choice AU. The 1856-S is the final issue in the brief Type II gold dollar series, the only one coined at the San Francisco Mint, and the only one dated 1856. (The Philadelphia and Dahlonega gold dollars of 1856 both employed the new Type III design.) Far scarcer in all grades than the 1855-O, the 1856-S has a mintage of 24,600 pieces as opposed to 55,000 coins for its New Orleans Mint predecessor. In addition to its scarcity in high grades (read: AU and Mint State), the 1856-S is known for a dramatic repunched mintmark variety, which comprises approximately half of the known survivors. As seen on the present example, bold remnants of the secondary S are evident above and to the right of the primary mintmark.From the Blue Ridge Mountains Portfolio.
