The Type 1 gold dollar had been criticized from the start as too small to handle. In 1853 the Mint found a way to make a gold coin larger without adding gold. The Act of February 21, 1853, which lightened the silver coins, also created a three-dollar gold piece, and to keep that coin from being confused with the others it was struck thin and broad, with a new design by Chief Engraver James B. Longacre showing Liberty as an Indian princess. In 1854 the Mint gave the gold dollar the same treatment: a thinner, wider planchet of the same weight and fineness, and a smaller version of the princess head. Philadelphia struck both the old and the new design that year.
The new dollar had a problem of its own. Its relief was high, and on so thin a coin the presses often failed to bring up every detail. The three Southern branch mints, Charlotte, Dahlonega and New Orleans, had the most trouble. Many of the coins wore quickly to the point of being illegible and were sent back to Philadelphia to be melted, and on most of the survivors the 85 in the date is weak.
The design lasted only about two years. Philadelphia struck it in 1854 and 1855, the three Southern branches struck it in 1855 only, and San Francisco struck it in 1856, after the decision to replace it had been made. In 1856 Longacre enlarged the head, lowered its relief and moved the legend closer to the rim, producing the Type 3, which struck up far better. He did not change the reverse; the two types share one reverse.
