A few of the most valuable gold dollar coins are:
- 1849-C Liberty Coronet: $86,250-$690,000
- 1852 Liberty Coronet: $168-$312,000
- 1853 Liberty Coronet: $173-$264,000
- 1861-D Large Liberty Head: $40,011-$175,394
- 1855-D Liberty Indian: $20,444-$144,544
- 1855-C Liberty Indian: $3,400-$137,657
- 1865-D Large Liberty Head: $7,302-$112,184
Even though they are no longer minted in the US, gold dollar coins are worth serious value, either for their gold content or numismatic value.
If you have inherited an old coin collection, there is a good chance that you may have some coins from the gold dollar series in your collection.
Whether you are planning on keeping or selling your gold coins, learning more about them can tell you their worth.
If you own any gold coins and are thinking of selling or just trying to learn more about them, reach out to us at Coinfully where an expert can tell you everything you need to know about them, including their worth.
Table of Contents
History of Dollar Gold Coins
One dollar gold coins were only minted from 1849 to 1889.
During the fifty years that gold dollar coins were struck, they featured three different face designs. All three one dollar gold coins were designed by James B. Longacre and his assistant Peter Filatreu Cross.
The three different designs are:
- Type 1: Liberty wearing a coronet (1849-1854)
- Type 2: Liberty in an Indian headdress (1854-1856)
- Type 3: Large Liberty Head (1856-1889)
The tail side of the coin stayed almost the same throughout their fifty years. All coins feature a wreath with the denomination, mint mark, and year minted struck into the back of the coins. The Type 1 gold dollar coins also had United States of America stuck above the wreaths. Starting with 1854 the wreath makes almost a circle on the tail side for the type 2 and 3 gold dollar coins.
While gold dollars became popular with people collecting coins at the time, gold dollars seemed to have no practical use beyond making jewelry. In 1889 the United States Mint struck the last gold dollar coin.
Recent Gold Dollar Coins
Dollar coins are no longer made with gold. Though, some coins that look gold but are not have been referred to as “golden dollars.”
There are three dollar coins that are sometimes mistaken for being made of gold. The Sacagawea dollar, the Presidential dollar coin, and the American Innovation dollar are made of a manganese brass outer layer that gives them an almost gold look.
How To Tell The Value of a Gold Dollar Coin
The value of your gold dollar coins depends on whether the coin has any numismatic value or the gold in your dollars.
Numismatic Value in Gold Dollar Coins
Numismatic value in gold dollar coins is determined by rarity and condition.
Gold dollar coins can be rare for a number of reasons, including: mintage, errors, and demand.
If a coin has a low mintage, there were fewer produced and it will be harder to find and therefore worth more. Error coins can happen several different ways during production, this means that your gold dollar is different from other ones of that year. And, how much people want a gold dollar coin adds to the coin’s value.
To make sure that your rare coin is worth the most amount of money, you want the coin to be in the best condition possible. Coins in uncirculated conditions are worth more than circulated or worn coins. Coins are graded on a scale of 1-70 with 70 being the highest grade a coin can get.
Unlike silver dollar coins gold dollars need to have serious numismatic value to be worth more than their gold content. Though, when you do find one, numismatic gold dollar coins have value well beyond their weight in gold, valuing well over $100,000 in some cases.
The Price of Gold in Your Dollar Coins
In terms of melt values, all three of these regular issue gold coins contain $114.89 worth of gold in them.
All gold one dollar coins are made up of 90% gold and 10% copper. The amount of gold all three of the dollar designs are made of is 0.04837 Troy oz.
This might seem like a lot of money for the precious metal, but almost all of the gold one dollar coins have a numismatic worth more than their melt value. Contact us for a free zero-pressure coin appraisal and learn how much your gold dollar coins could be worth.
Dollar Gold Coins Worth Money
Any gold dollar coin you may own is worth money, though there are some that will be worth significantly more than the others.
As I mentioned, some of the most valuable gold dollar coins are:
- 1849-C Liberty Coronet: $86,250-$690,000
- 1852 Liberty Coronet: $168-$312,000
- 1853 Liberty Coronet: $173-$264,000
- 1861-D Large Liberty Head: $40,011-$175,394
- 1855-D Liberty Indian: $20,444-$144,544
- 1855-C Liberty Indian: $3,400-$137,657
- 1865-D Large Liberty Head: $7,302-$112,184
These are not the only valuable gold dollars, other rare gold dollar coins are worth money too.
To find out if you have any gold one dollar coins worth money, have an expert appraise your collection and coins. Gold dollar appraisals can be done in person or online.
For in-person appraisals, you will need to find an appraiser near you, take your valuable gold coins to them, and potentially leave your gold dollars with an appraiser before learning what they are worth.
For online appraisals with Coinfully, you will need to create an inventory or list of any gold dollars and other coins you want to be appraised for an expert to look through. In some cases you will be asked to provide pictures of your coins. At no point will you be asked to take your coins anywhere.
If you prefer to have someone look at your coins in person but do not want to take your coins anywhere, consider an at-home appraisal with Coinfully. During at-home appraisals, an expert with Coinfully will come to you and appraise your coins.
Both online and at-home appraisals with Coinfully are 100% free and have a zero-pressure guarantee, meaning that experts with Coinfully will never try to convince you to sell during the appraisal process.
What To Do With Valuable Dollar Gold Coins
After you find the value of your dollar gold coins, your options are to sell or keep them.
If you decide to keep your gold dollar coins you can get them graded as a way to keep their value. In case you are keeping your gold coins until the price of gold rises, getting them graded will help with that.
If you want to sell your gold dollars, you have a lot of options when going about it. You could sell your collection to a shop or personal collector that you find. If you decide to get an appraisal with Coinfully, you can either sell your gold coins online or to the appraiser at-home afterwards.
To sell your coins online with Coinfully ,you will be asked to ship us your gold dollars. When we receive your coins you will be sent the money for them within one business day. During at-home appraisals, if you decide to sell, our experts can write you a check there and take your coins.
Regardless of what you decide to do with your gold dollar coins, learn more about them with a free appraisal from Coinfully!
