San Francisco struck $3 coins for the first time in 1855, but demand was modest. Most depositors requested double eagles, as for a given amount of gold they were easier to count. The facility also struck its first silver coins this year. Only 6,600 examples of the threes were produced and all entered day-to-day commercial use, there being no numismatic interest at the time. Today’s typical surviving 1855-S $3 is VF or occasionally EF, with AU and finer pieces truly rare. A solitary Proof was struck and sent to Philadelphia for inclusion in the Mint Cabinet. Today it is a treasure in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the D. Brent Pogue Part III Auction, where it realized $55,225.