1853 Gold Dollar For Grading

AU-55

AU-55.

AU50 and I would venture a super conservative grader could go XF45 on this.

AU-50. Mine was nicer than this, and Bill Fivaz called it EF-45.

AU 50

ExFine 40 scratched. A nice solid AU 55 could be had for only a bit more. The reality is that the OP coin has little eye appeal and would probably NOT straight grade in a holder from a major TPG.
Still a very interesting coin to own , very historical. Hard to believe these actually did circulate at one time.

It's not that hard to know why they circulated when you know the historical context. The intent of Congress when they authorized the gold dollar was to give people an alternative to the paper dollars that private banks were issuing. The value of these bank notes was often dicey, and the intent was to give working people a reliable dollar.

These coins saw a fair amount of use prior to the Civil War. That is boren out today by the numbers of circulated pieces that have survived despite the fact that many have been melted. When the large gold dollars were introduced in 1854, the Treasury made an effort to get the small coins out of circulation. Something like 75% of the mintage was pulled out of circulation for melting in the 1850s, '60s and '70s. The Treasure viewed having gold in two sizes as "an evil."

At the outbreak of the Civil War, virtually all gold coins were withdrawn from commerce and hoarded. After the war the gold dollar never really recovered. Mintages got down to token annual levels before the series was discontinued in 1889.

The silver dollar was unpopular in most areas of the country because it was heavy and bulky to carry around. Also the discovery of gold in California changed the ratio of the value between gold and silver. As a result all of the silver coins from the Half Dime to the silver dollar had a melt value in excess of their face value.

In 1853 Congress reduced the weight of all of the silver coins from the Half Dime to the half dollar. That is why coins had arrows at the date in 1854 to '55, and rays around the eagle for the quarter and half dollar in 1853. For whatever reason, probably to "maintain the integrity of the (silver) dollar," the weight of the silver dollar was not reduced. It continued to have an intrinsic value that exceeded its face value. Therefore the silver dollar melted for more than it was worth which was one more reason for it not to circulate.