 A gold dollar had been proposed several times in the 1830s and 1840s , but was not initially adopted . Congress was finally galvanized into action by the increased supply of <unk> caused by the California gold rush , and in 1849 authorized a gold dollar . In its early years , silver coins were being <unk> or exported , and the gold dollar found a ready place in commerce . Silver again circulated after Congress in 1853 required that new coins of that metal be made lighter , and the gold dollar became a rarity in commerce even before federal coins vanished from circulation because of the economic disruption caused by the American Civil War . 
