1856-S Gold Dollar Type 2: San Francisco’s First-Year Gold
Coin Encyclopedia · 8 min read · Published November 7, 2026
The 1856-S gold dollar is two firsts at once, and that is what makes it special. It is San Francisco’s first gold dollar issue, struck two years after the mint opened in 1854, and it is the last year of the Type 2 design, which the Type 3 replaced in the same year. San Francisco struck 24,600 of them. Our researched guide values run from $1,500–$2,800 in Extremely Fine to $73,000–$87,500 in Mint State 65. A coin that is a first-year issue for its mint and a last-year issue for its type is a coin with two reasons to be collected, and this one has both.
The Type 2 is the middle child of the gold dollar family, and it is the hardest to find well struck. In 1854 the Mint widened the coin to about 15 millimetres to make it easier to handle, and Longacre gave Liberty a feathered Native American headdress. The thin, wide planchet proved nearly impossible to strike well: most Type 2 dollars show softness in the headdress and the wreath, and the 1856-S is no exception. If you find one, the first question is not what grade it is. It is whether it was ever struck properly in the first place, and whether the S is really there.
San Francisco joins the gold dollar
The San Francisco Mint opened in 1854, in the middle of the California gold rush, to coin the gold coming out of the hills without shipping it east. Its first years were spent on the big denominations, the eagles and double eagles that carried the rush’s wealth. The gold dollar came later, in 1856, when the mint turned to the small coinage as well. The 24,600 it struck that year were the first gold dollars San Francisco ever made, and they went into circulation in California, where a gold dollar was real money in a gold-rush economy.
It helps to set the number beside the series around it. Philadelphia struck gold dollars in the hundreds of thousands in the same years, and a San Francisco coin of any date is scarce beside them. The 1856-S is not the rarest San Francisco gold dollar, but it is the first, and firsts matter to collectors. A worn example is an affordable first-year branch-mint coin. A Mint State one is a different matter entirely.
Type 2’s last year — and the Type 3 that replaced it
The Type 2 lasted only three years, 1854 to 1856, because the Mint knew it struck badly. The Type 3, which arrived in 1856, kept the wider size but gave Liberty a larger, better-proportioned portrait in shallower relief that struck up cleanly. That is the type most collectors encounter: it ran for over thirty years, through 1889, and it is the most available and affordable of the three. The 1856-S sits on the boundary between the two, struck in the year the design changed, and it is the last Type 2 a San Francisco collector will ever need.
Telling the two apart is easy once you know what to look for. The Type 2 portrait is small, with a feathered headdress that fills only part of the field. The Type 3 portrait is larger and better proportioned, filling the field more fully. The difference is obvious under a loupe, and it is the first thing to check on any 1856 gold dollar, because the date alone does not tell you the type: both Type 2 and Type 3 dollars were struck in 1856, and they are different coins.
What a 1856-S Type 2 is worth by grade
The figures below are our researched collector estimates from the live guide, reviewed November 5, 2026. Four grades are researched so far. Good and Fine are not researched yet, and they show “—” rather than a guess.
| Grade | Estimated value |
|---|---|
| Good (G-4) | — |
| Fine (F-12) | — |
| Extremely Fine (XF-40) | $1,500–$2,800 |
| About Uncirculated (AU-50) | $1,560–$3,850 |
| Mint State 60 (MS-60) | $5,520–$6,602 |
| Mint State 65 (MS-65) | $73,000–$87,500 |
Two things to notice in that table. First, the Mint State 60 range is narrow, $5,520–$6,602, which is what a small, well-documented population looks like: the coins that exist are known, and their range is tight. Second, the jump from Mint State 60 to Mint State 65 is more than tenfold, which is why certification matters so much on this date: the premium is paid on certified high grade, not on a raw coin that merely looks sharp.
The mint mark below the bow
The mint mark is the whole attribution, and it sits in a small, specific place: on the reverse, directly below the wreath’s bow. An S means San Francisco, and no mark means Philadelphia. On a small, worn gold dollar the S can be faint, because the lower reverse takes wear, so check it under a loupe with the light raking across the surface from the side. Compare it against a known San Francisco gold dollar if you can, because a contact mark near the bow can fool the eye at a glance.
Once the S is confirmed, look at the portrait. The Type 2 Indian Princess wears a feathered Native American headdress, and the feathers are the first thing to check for strike: on a sharply struck example they are separate and distinct, and on a weakly struck one they blur into the field. Then the wreath on the reverse, where the leaves go soft next. If both are crisp, you are holding one of the better-struck survivors of the year.
Specs and the gold floor
Every gold dollar, of any type, weighs 1.672 grams and carries 0.04837 troy ounces of pure gold, at 90% gold. With gold trading near $4,072 an ounce in November 2026, that metal is worth about $196.97 — the floor under every genuine example, no matter how worn. Gold moves every day, so the floor moves with it; check the live market on the day, and treat anything below the melt figure as a bad offer.
Metal floor updates live from our Worker — last updated November 7, 2026.
The coin is officially the Type 2 Indian Princess small-head gold dollar, designed by James B. Longacre. It measures about 15 millimetres across, wider than the 13-millimetre Type 1, with a reeded edge and the mint mark on the reverse below the wreath’s bow. The gold floor above is the least important number on this page: the date’s worth lives in its mintage, its mint, and its type, not its metal, and the metal is less than $200 of a coin that starts at $1,500 in Extremely Fine.
Handling, storage, and getting a second opinion
Hold a gold dollar by its edge, never across the faces, and never clean it. The coins are so small that a fingerprint covers a large part of the surface, and cleaning leaves hairlines that a grader will spot at once. Keep the coin in an acid-free holder, away from humidity, and do not store it loose with other coins. If the coin looks uncirculated, or if the strike is unusually sharp, a professional opinion from PCGS or NGC is worth the fee: certification settles the type, the grade, and the strike in one step, and on a first-year San Francisco date that certainty matters.
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Your 1856-S questions, answered
How many 1856-S gold dollars were struck?
San Francisco struck 24,600 Type 2 gold dollars in 1856. That is a small run beside Philadelphia’s output in the same years, and it is the main reason this date commands respect in every grade.
Was 1856 the first year San Francisco struck gold dollars?
It was the first year for the gold dollar at San Francisco. The mint had opened in 1854, and the 1856-S is its first gold dollar issue, which makes it a first-year coin for the mint as well as a last-year coin for the Type 2 design.
What makes the 1856-S a Type 2 gold dollar?
The Indian Princess small-head portrait, struck 1854–1856 on a thin, wide planchet about 15 millimetres across. The Type 3, with its larger, better-proportioned portrait in shallower relief, arrived the same year, 1856, and replaced the Type 2.
Where is the mint mark on an 1856-S gold dollar?
On the reverse, directly below the wreath’s bow. An S means San Francisco, and no mark means Philadelphia. On a small, worn gold dollar the S can be faint, so check it under a loupe.
What is an 1856-S Type 2 worth by grade?
Our researched guide values run from $1,500–$2,800 in Extremely Fine, $1,560–$3,850 in About Uncirculated, $5,520–$6,602 in Mint State 60, and $73,000–$87,500 in Mint State 65, reviewed November 5, 2026. Good and Fine are not researched yet and show “—”.
Check your 1856-S
Run the date and mint mark through the free Coin Value Checker for an instant estimate, or get a Grade-or-Not verdict on whether your coin is worth certifying. The full series guide is here: Gold Dollar Coin Values by Type and Date.
This guide is for learning and collecting, not financial advice. Every estimate here comes from our own researched catalog, and the real worth of any single coin depends on its condition, its strike, and the market on the day you hold it.
This guide is for education — learn the coin first, and get a professional opinion before buying or selling.
