Christian Gobrecht’s Coronet design, also known as the Liberty Head, first appeared in 1839. The earlier coins featured smaller lettering on the reverse and a smaller date. Around the mid-1840s, most Liberty Heads featured larger reverse lettering and a larger date. The coins were mostly produced at the Philadelphia Mint, but some were struck in Charlotte, North Carolina; Dahlonega, Georgia; New Orleans, Louisiana; and San Francisco, California. The Charlotte and Dahlonega coins are very rare. The 1854-S is the rarest; of the 268 that were struck at the new San Francisco Mint, only three are known to exist today.
