Three Dollar Gold - A widely used
coin for jewelry.
  The Three Dollar gold piece was authorized by the Act of Feb 21, 1853 and was produced from 1854 to 1889. It was initially coined to be a convenient exchange for rolls of three cent pieces or sheets of three cent stamps.
Many of these gold coins were used in jewelry
  which reduces the value of the coin. When buying these coins be sure to check the edge for interrupted reeding. This could be an indication that the coin had been soldered at one point. Also, look for tooling marks and discoloration on the edge of the coin before buying.
The Three-Dollar Indian head gold coin was often referred to as an Indian Princess. The coins design is by James Longacre and also appears on the Type 3 One Dollar Gold coin as well.
The U.S. Mint made two distinct varieties of this denomination. One was in 1854 and included all three mints of Philadelphia, Dahlonega and New Orleans. This variety has small letters on the reverse for the word DOLLAR. The other type covers the rest of the series and it has large letters for the word DOLLAR.
Indian Princess Type small letters (1854 only)
Indian Princess Type large letters (1855-1889)
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