The gold dollar was a United States dollar coin produced from 1849 to 1889. Composed of 90% pure gold, it was the smallest denomination of gold currency ever produced by the United States federal government. When the US system of coinage was originally designed there had been no plans for a gold dollar coin, but in the late 1840s, two gold rushes later, Congress was looking to expand the use of gold in the country's currency. The gold dollar was authorized by the Act of March 3, 1849, and the Liberty Head type began circulating soon afterward. Because of the high value of gold, the gold dollar is the second smallest coin in the history of US coinage, after the silver three cent piece.
Read more about Gold Dollar: History, Liberty Head Type (1849–1854)
Famous quotes containing the words gold and/or dollar:
“I have seen a little of it. I know that it is very malleable, but not so malleable as wit. A grain of gold will gild a great surface, but not so much as a grain of wisdom.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Give a beggar a dime and he’ll bless you. Give him a dollar and he’ll curse you for witholding the rest of your fortune. Poverty is a bag with a hole at the bottom.”
—Anzia Yezierska (c. 1881–1970)