Doug Winter, in his Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint (2006), notes that the 1854-O three dollar is 'an extremely hard issue to locate in high grades' and that he has seen 'only a handful of attractive, original pieces and these generally command a large premium among knowledgeable collectors.' The same branch mint gold specialist goes on to state that the 1854-O three is 'very rare in correctly graded AU58.' Further collector pressure is placed on this issue as it is the only date in the three dollar series that was struck at the New Orleans Mint.