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The three-dollar piece was a gold coin produced by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1854 to 1889. Authorized by the Act of February 21, 1853, the coin was designed by Mint Chief Engraver James B. Longacre. The obverse bears a representation of Lady Liberty wearing a headdress of a Native American princess and the reverse a wreath of corn, wheat, cotton, and tobacco. In 1851, Congress had authorized a silver three-cent piece so that postage stamps of that value could be purchased without using the widely disliked copper cents. Two years later, a bill was passed which authorized a three-dollar coin. By some accounts, the coin was created so larger quantities of stamps could be purchased. Longacre, in designing the piece, sought to make it as different as possible from the quarter eagle or $2.50 piece, striking it on a thinner planchet and using a distinctive design. Although over 100,000 were struck in the first year, the coin saw little use. It circulated somewhat on the West Coast, where gold and silver were used to the exclusion of paper money, but what little place it had in commerce in the East was lost in the economic disruption of the Civil War, and was never regained. The piece was last struck in 1889, and Congress ended the series the following year. Although many dates were struck in small numbers, the rarest was produced at the San Francisco Mint in 1870 (1870-S); only one is known with certainty to exist. == Inception == In 1832, New York Congressman Campbell P. White sought a means of returning American gold coins to circulation—as gold was overvalued with respect to silver by the government, gold coins had been routinely exported since the start of the 19th century. White's solution was to have the silver dollar and gold eagle struck at full value, but to have smaller gold and silver coins, including a $3 piece, which contained less than their face value in metal. Although Congress, in passing the Coinage Act of 1834, made adjustments to the ratio between gold and silver, it did not authorize a $3 coin at that time. The Act of March 3, 1845 authorized the first United States postage stamps and set the rate for local prepaid letters at five cents. In the years following, this rate was seen as too high and an impediment to commerce. Accordingly, Congress on March 3, 1851 authorized both a three-cent stamp and a three-cent silver coin. Kentucky Representative Richard Henry Stanton believed that the need to make change from a silver half dime with large copper cents might defeat the new scheme, writing to Mint Director Robert M. Patterson that "reduced postage () depended on a three-cent coin for use in those states where copper does not circulate." According to numismatic historian Walter Breen, "the main purpose of the new 3¢ piece would be to buy postage stamps without using the unpopular, heavy, and often filthy copper cents. By 1853, silver was overvalued with respect to gold. This was due to large discoveries of gold, especially in California, and silver was heavily exported. To correct this situation, Secretary of the Treasury Thomas Corwin advocated reducing the precious-metal content of most silver coins to prevent their export. The opposition to the bill was led by Tennessee Representative Andrew Johnson, who believed that Congress had no authority to alter the gold/silver price ratio and, if it did, it should not exercise it. Nevertheless, Congress passed the bill, which became law on February 21, 1853. That bill also authorized a three-dollar gold coin; according to numismatic writer Don Taxay, provision for it had been inserted at the behest of gold interests. According to Breen, Congress believed the new coin "would be convenient for exchange for rolls or small bags of silver 3¢ pieces, and for buying sheets of 3¢ stamps—always bypassing use of copper cents". In 1889, then-Mint Director James P. Kimball wrote that "it is supposed that the three-dollar piece was designed to be a multiple of the three-cent piece, for the convenience of postal transactions". Numismatist Walter Hagans in his 2003 article on the three-dollar coin notes and dismisses the postal explanation, writing "the actual reason for the gold $3 coin was the abundant supply of gold discovered in California." Coin dealer and author Q. David Bowers notes that "whether or not the $3 denomination was actually necessary or worthwhile has been a matter of debate among numismatists for well over a century." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Three-dollar piece」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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