The Liberty Head or Type I gold dollar at 12.7mm (½ inch) was just too small leading to numerous complaints and its eventual demise. Upon entering the office Mint Director, Col. James Ross Snowden made the gold dollar the target for one of his first "improvements" in our nation’s coinage. This resulted in the 14.3mm (⁹/₁₆ inch) Indian Princess Type II disaster. Interestingly the Indian Princess was not the first or last attempt at increasing the diameter of the gold dollar.

As early as 1849, the first year of issue for the denomination, James B. Longacre had prepared dies and had struck a 16mm (⁵/₈ inch) pattern. Known as Judd 115 the coin featured a squared hole in the middle. The obverse design combined a thin line wreath with the legend u. states of america while the reverse had thirteen stars, the denomination 1 dollar, and the date 1849. There are 6-7 known specimens of this pattern.

In 1852 a trial pattern was made to experiment with a ring style gold dollar. No designer is credited for this pattern since it was hastily done using the reverse die from a dime and a die containing only a dental detail along the edge for the obverse. The piece listed, as Judd 136 is 18mm (just under ¾ inch) in diameter with a large hole punched in it. Interestingly a thinner planchet was used creating a gold half-dollar pattern (Judd 135). There are 4-5 known specimens each of these patterns.

Later in 1852 three more pattern designs using round holes in the center were struck. All were designed by James B. Longacre and had an outside diameter of 16mm (⁵/₈ inch). The first identified as Judd 137 featured the legend u s a and the date 1852 on the obverse and a continuos wreath on the reverse with no mention of the denomination. The two know examples were both struck over quarter eagles of which the original dates can be read – 1846 and 1859! The second, Judd 141, utilized the same obverse but this time with a half wreath and the domination dollar on the reverse. There are 6 known specimens of this pattern. The third used the reverse from the second with an obverse that expanded the legend to united states of america and is known as Judd 145. This piece is common in pattern gold dollar standards with 16 known examples.

Two more gold dollar patterns were struck in the following years. In 1858, Judd 224 a design by Anthony C. Paquet which could easily be mistaken for the regular strike Type III dollar was struck. The next in 1872 a William Barber design that was struck as a pattern in every denomination from one dollar to twenty dollars. It retained the size and weight of the current Type III dollar. Both of these patterns are unique.

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