In my continuing series that has focused on the ten rarest coins in each denomination of United States gold coin struck from the late 1830’s to the early 1900’s, I’ve nearly reached the end of the road. The last major denomination to discuss is the enigmatic Three Dollar gold piece. This denomination was produced from 1854 to 1889. For more details and history behind the series I suggest that you read the book the Q.   
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Is the age of collecting by date or variety over? Have coins become so expensive and collecting so complex that it is inevitable that new collectors will focus solely on type coins?   
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I recently purchased a very unusual 1854-D Three Dollar gold piece. If you are even a casual aficionado of Southern gold coins, you are probably aware that a) the 1854-D is a rare and popular issue and b) it has a very established set of diagnostics. However, as this coin (and a few others) proves, not all 1854-D Three Dollar gold pieces are cut from the same cloth.   
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In the five years since I wrote the second edition of my book on Dahlonega gold coinage, a number of important coins have been sold and some significant changes are going to be have to be made when I release my third edition (which, if I had to guess, will be out in another year or so). I think it would be interesting to look at the ten rarest Dahlonega gold coins and see what important things have changed about them since 2003.   
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In the fourth installment of my series of State of the Market articles, I take a look at the popular Three Dollar Gold piece series. How has this cult favorite fared in the past few years and what does the future look like for this denomination? After years of neglect, interest in the Three Dollar series spiked dramatically in 2004 and 2005.   
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In my second State of the Market report, I look at the always popular area of Dahlonega gold and see what’s up with these coins. Dahlonega gold coins clearly remain the most avidly collected of the three southern branch mints. But this market has become very two-tiered in the past few years. Because of this market bifurcation, prices have fluctuated recently and two coins of the same date in the same grade can have wildly divergent values. 1.   
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