 Nevertheless , the Type 2 gold dollar ( as it came to be known ) proved unsatisfactory as the mints had difficulty in striking the new coin so that all details were brought out . This was due to the high relief of the design — the three Southern branch mints especially had trouble with the piece . Many of the Type 2 pieces quickly became <unk> , and were sent back to Philadelphia for melting and <unk> . On most surviving specimens , the " 85 " in the date is not fully detailed . The Type 2 gold dollar was struck only at Philadelphia in 1854 and 1855 , at the three Southern branch mints in the latter year , and at San Francisco in 1856 , after the design was designated for replacement . To correct the problems , Longacre enlarged the head of Liberty , making it a scaled @-@ down version of the three @-@ dollar piece , and moved the <unk> on the <unk> closer to the rim . This improved the metal flow and design <unk> so much that early numismatic scholars assumed the reverse was also altered , though in fact no change was made and the Type 2 and Type 3 reverses are identical . 
