Simultaneous with the production of half eagles at the Dahlonega mint, Georgia seceded from the Union on January 19, 1861. The production of half eagles continued until shortly after the mint was seized by the Confederacy on April 8, 1861. The mint records showed that 5,197 half eagles were made prior to the take over of the mint. Specialists of the Dahlonega gold coin series have estimated that between 1,000 and 2,000 pieces were struck afterwards.

Douglas Winter notes that the coins made by the Union “are probably identifiable by their better quality of strike and proper alignment of the dies.” And, that coins struck by the Confederacy “can be identified by their more crude appearance and poorly aligned dies.” Otherwise, there is not an absolute way to differentiate between the pieces made by the Union or Confederates.

The 1861-D gold dollar has the distinction of the only coin undisputedly stuck by the Confederate States of America. No one knows exactly how many of these coins were produced by the Confederacy because no records were kept. Dahlonega mint authority C. M. Birdsall estimates 2,750 to 3,250 were made. One of two new reverse dies received by the Dahlonega mint before it was captured and an 1860 obverse die on hand were used by the Rebels to strike the gold dollars. The Confederate history and rarity of these pieces is what makes it coveted above all other gold dollars.