1879 Three-Dollar Gold Piece. MS-62 (PCGS).Satin to modestly semi-reflective surfaces are further adorned with vivid pinkish-honey patina. By the late 1870s the usefulness of the three-dollar gold piece in commerce (such as it ever was) had long since passed and, with only a single exception in 1874, yearly circulation strike deliveries were small. In anticipation of the federal governments mandate that gold coins would once again be exchangeable at par with paper bills on January 1, 1879, the Philadelphia Mint increased its output 1878 with a delivery of 82,304 circulation strikes. Although the market achieved parity on its own on December 17, 1878, by the following year the unpopularity of the three-dollar gold piece had been reaffirmed and mintages once again fell off drastically. The 1879 has a mintage of just 3,000 circulation strikes, achieved mostly to satisfy demand for holiday gifts and similar purposes, as well as to prevent the creation of a Proof-only numismatic rarity. In the end most circulation strikes of this date accumulated in the Philadelphia Mint and were eventually melted, with the result that fewer than 750 coins are believed extant in all grades. This is a scarce Mint State survivor that would be just right for an advanced collection of this challenging 19th century gold series.
