The World of Rare Coins: The Dollar With the Hole In It

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Feb 27th 2011 at 2:01PM

You've probably never seen a U.S. coin like this before. The U.S. Mint began experimenting with different gold dollar patterns in 1852. The problem was simple, gold dollars were small and easily lost. And so the Mint tried out creating pattern gold dollars in 1852, producing the patterns now known as Judd-136 to Judd-148 which have a larger, more convenient diameter.

Instead a more practical solution eventually was decided on. The amount of silver was reduced in most subsidiary coinage in 1853, which returned the silver denominations to the channels of commerce rather than going to the melting pot. And the gold dollar diameter was eventually increased in 1854 when the design was changed to the Type Two format.

Heritage Auction's 2011 March Sacramento Signature ANA US Coin Auction features an 1852 annular (ring-shaped) gold dollar, with a wide center hole and the date, denomination, and country name along the outside. The lower half of the reverse shows a wreath. This pattern, known as Judd-145, is struck in gold with a plain edge. Heritage sold a similar coin to this one in 2008 for over $27,000.

Tags: annular coins, coin collecting, gold coin, gold dollars