Nearly a million 1882-S Liberty Head $5 gold pieces were struck at the old San Francisco Mint. But the West was expanding in the 1880s, and gold and silver coins were the currency of choice. Westerners in the 1880s had little trust in paper money, and the gold and silver mines of California, Nevada, Colorado and other locations provided plenty of ore for precious metal coinage - including the 1882-S Liberty Head $5 gold piece.