By Paul Green for Numismatic News

It should be elusive, if not rare. It is neither. This is what makes the 1880 gold dollar such an interesting coin, even if we are not quite sure of the story behind the hoard that makes it available.

During the 1850s the gold dollar had been much more popular than the silver dollar. Silver dollars had mintage totals of less than 100,000 and were mostly produced at the main facility. Gold dollars were being produced not just at Philadelphia, but also at assorted branch mints. The total at Philadelphia was sometimes in the millions.

By 1880, however, the gold dollar had fallen from favor. Much had changed since the 1850s. The Civil War played a major role in causing gold to all but disappear from circulation, except in California. Even though gold was back by 1880, there had been other changes as well.