Longacre and then struck and distributed out of five different mints. This new Gold Dollar was designed by James B. government felt why not use this newly found gold as currency. The reason for this act that resulted in the minting of these new gold coins was the famous California gold rush. The Coinage Act of 1849 included production of the popularly known Double Eagle but also the Gold Dollars. This denomination also happened to be the smallest piece of gold coinage in size ever created by the U.S.
The Gold Dollar denomination was struck from 1849 to 1889 and over that 40 year period we saw 3 different design types produced.
