1857-S threes are usually only encountered in VF-XF grades. In 1857, gold dust was still plentiful in the San Francisco area following the Gold Rush that began in 1848. After the newly built branch mint resolved its problems with a lack of parting acids in 1855, there was still a significant need for lower denomination gold coins on the West Coast. In 1857, there were 14,250 three dollar gold pieces struck in the western facility. While that seems like a paltry number, it is actually a significant mintage for this little-used odd denomination. What is significant, of course, is the extraordinary degree of preservation for this '57-S.      Uncirculated examples of this issue have been recognized and highly sought after since one was offered in an Elmer Sears fixed price list a century ago, followed by one in an Elder sale from 1914 where the coin was described as 'excessively rare.'