 The Act of February 21 , 1853 , that had lightened the silver coins also authorized a gold three @-@ dollar piece , which began to be produced in 1854 . To ensure that the three @-@ dollar piece was not mistaken for other gold coins , it had been made thinner and wider than it would normally be , and Longacre put a distinctive design with an Indian princess on it . Longacre adapted both the technique and the design for the gold dollar , which was made thinner , and thus wider . An adaptation of Longacre 's princess for the larger gold coin was placed on the dollar , and a similar agricultural wreath on the reverse . The idea of making the gold dollar larger in this way had been suggested in Congress as early as 1852 , and had been advocated by Pettit , but Guthrie 's desire for an annular coin stalled the matter . In May 1854 , <unk> sent Guthrie a letter stating that the difficulties with an annular coin , especially in getting the coins to <unk> properly from the press , were more than trivial . 
