 Mint records indicate the first gold dollars were produced on May 7 , 1849 ; Longacre 's diary notes state instead that the first were struck on May 8 . A few coins in proof condition were struck on the first day , along with about 1 @,@ 000 for circulation . There are five major varieties of the 1849 gold dollar from Philadelphia , made as Longacre continued to fine @-@ tune the design . <unk> dies were sent by Longacre 's <unk> Department at the Philadelphia Mint to the branch mints at Charlotte , Dahlonega ( in Georgia ) , and New Orleans ; coins struck at the branches resemble some of the types issued from Philadelphia , depending on when the dies were produced . Of the coins struck at the branch mints in 1849 , only pieces struck at Charlotte ( 1849 @-@ C ) exist in multiple varieties ; most are of what is dubbed the " <unk> Wreath " variety . Approximately five of the 1849 @-@ C Open Wreath are known ; one , believed the finest surviving specimen , sold at auction for $ 690 @,@ 000 in 2004 , remaining a record for the gold dollar series as of 2013 . One of the changes made during production was the inclusion of Longacre 's initial " L " on the truncation of Liberty 's neck , the first time a U.S. coin intended for full @-@ scale production had borne the initial of its designer . All issues beginning in 1850 bear the <unk> Wreath . Beginning in 1854 , the gold dollar was also struck at the new San Francisco Mint . 
