Do you know the smallest denomination the U.S. Mint ever produced in gold? It’s the gold dollar! Struck from 1849 to 1889, the gold dollar was created at the beginning of the California gold rush.
Dennis Hengeveld writes:
Made by all of the mints in use at the time, actual circulation of the pieces largely ended during and just after the American Civil War—except in the West, where the pieces continued to circulate until the 1880’s. With varying mintages, the 40 years in which it was produced created a number of rarities and scarce coins, as well as higher mintage issues that are still difficult to find. While most collectors are satisfied with a single type example of each of the three different designs, some have tried to assemble a complete date and mintmark set. As we will see, that is not an easy feat, as some dates are rarely encountered in the marketplace.