1804 Dollar
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The 1804 dollar or Bowed Liberty Dollar was a dollar coin struck by the
United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bull ...
, of which fifteen specimens are currently known to exist. Though dated 1804, none were struck in that year; all were minted in the 1830s or later. They were first created for use in special
proof coin Proof coinage refers to special early samples of a coin issue, historically made for checking the dies (as in demonstrating that something is true) and for archival purposes. In modern times, proofs are often struck in greater numbers, especi ...
sets used as diplomatic gifts during Edmund Roberts' trips to
Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
and
Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...
. Edmund Roberts distributed the coins in 1834 and 1835. Two additional sets were ordered for government officials in Japan and
Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym and endonym, exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer t ...
, but Roberts died in
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
before they could be delivered. Besides those 1804 dollars produced for inclusion in the diplomatic sets, the Mint struck some examples which were used to trade with collectors for pieces desired for the Mint's coin cabinet.
Numismatists A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coins (and poss ...
first became aware of the 1804 dollar in 1842, when an illustration of one example appeared in a publication authored by two Mint employees. A collector subsequently acquired one example from the Mint in 1843. In response to numismatic demand, several examples were surreptitiously produced by Mint officials. Unlike the original coins, these later restrikes lacked the correct edge lettering, although later examples released from the Mint bore the correct lettering. The coins produced for the diplomatic mission, those struck surreptitiously without edge lettering and those with lettering are known collectively as "Class I", "Class II" and "Class III" dollars, respectively. From their discovery by numismatists, 1804 dollars have commanded high prices. Auction prices reached $1,000 by 1885, and in the mid-twentieth century, the coins realized over $30,000. In 1999, a Class I example sold for $4.14 million, then the highest price paid for any coin. Their high value has caused 1804 dollars to be a frequent target of counterfeiting and other methods of deception.


Background

The
Coinage Act of 1792 The Coinage Act of 1792 (also known as the Mint Act; officially: ''An act establishing a mint, and regulating the Coins of the United States''), passed by the United States Congress on April 2, 1792, created the United States dollar as the count ...
, the legislation which provided for the establishment of the Mint of the United States (today the
United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bull ...
), authorized coinage of multiple denominations of gold, silver and copper coins. According to the act, the
dollar Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...
, or "unit", was to "be of the value of a Spanish milled dollar as the same is now current, and to contain three hundred and seventy-one grains and four sixteenth parts of a grain of pure, or four hundred and sixteen grains of standard silver". The act went on to state that the coin would be struck in an alloy consisting of 89.2 percent silver and 10.8 percent copper. The purity and weight standards outlined in the Act were based on the
mean A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...
of several
assays An assay is an investigative (analytic) procedure in laboratory medicine, mining, pharmacology, environmental biology and molecular biology for qualitatively assessing or quantitatively measuring the presence, amount, or functional activity of ...
conducted on Spanish milled dollars. However, the dollars were mandated by Spanish law to contain 90.2 percent silver, and most of the unworn examples in circulation in the United States at the time contained approximately more than the silver dollars authorized by the Act. In 1793,
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George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
signed into law a bill which declared Spanish milled dollars legal tender, provided that they weighed no less than , which meant that at the lowest weight allowed by law, the Spanish dollars would contain approximately 0.5 percent less silver than the United States dollar coins. As a result, the United States silver dollars and unworn Spanish dollars were largely forced out of circulation in accordance with
Gresham's law In economics, Gresham's law is a monetary principle stating that "bad money drives out good". For example, if there are two forms of commodity money in circulation, which are accepted by law as having similar face value, the more valuable commo ...
; the lighter Spanish dollars were shipped in quantity for circulation in the United States, while the heavier pieces would be turned in to the
Philadelphia Mint The Philadelphia Mint is a branch of the United States Mint in Philadelphia. It was built in 1792 following the Coinage Act of 1792, in order to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States, and is the first and ...
to be recoined into United States coinage to take advantage of the discrepancy in weight. At that time, silver bullion was supplied to the Mint exclusively by private depositors, who, according to the Coinage Act of 1792, had the right to have their bullion coined free of charge. As large silver coins were a preferred method of commerce throughout the world, especially China, a considerable number of the United States dollars requested by silver depositors were exported to satisfy that demand. The first dollar coins, known as Flowing Hair dollars, were issued by the Mint beginning in 1794. By 1800, a majority of depositors requested their bullion be struck as silver dollars, which were then utilizing the Draped Bust design. This contributed to a shortage of small change in circulation, and as a result, the public became increasingly critical of the Mint. Mint Director
Elias Boudinot Elias Boudinot ( ; May 2, 1740 – October 24, 1821) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, statesman, and early abolitionist and women's rights advocate. During the Revolutionary War, Boudinot was an intelligence officer and prisoner-of-wa ...
began encouraging depositors to accept fractional coins, and the production of dollars began to decrease in relation to the smaller coins. Dollar coin production ceased in March 1804, although those pieces bore the date of 1803. In his 1805 report, Mint Director
Robert Patterson Robert Patterson (January 12, 1792 – August 7, 1881) was an Irish-born American military officer who served in the United States Army during the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the commander of the Pennsy ...
stated that " e striking of small coins is a measure which has been adopted to accommodate the banks and other depositors, and at their particular request, both with a view of furnishing a supply of small change, and to prevent the exportation of the
specie Specie may refer to: * Coins or other metal money in mass circulation * Bullion coins * Hard money (policy) * Commodity money * Specie Circular, 1836 executive order by US President Andrew Jackson regarding hard money * Specie Payment Resumption A ...
of the United States to foreign countries." Though none had been struck for over two years, Secretary of State
James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...
officially suspended silver dollar coinage on May 1, 1806, addressing a letter to Patterson:
Sir: In Consequence of a representation from the director of the Bank of the United States that considerable purchases have been made of dollars coined at the mint for the purpose of exporting them, and as it is probable further purchases and exportations will be made the President directs that all the silver to be coined at the mint shall be of small denominations, so that the value of the largest pieces shall not exceed half a dollar.


Production


Edmund Roberts' diplomatic mission

In 1832, commercial shipper Edmund Roberts began acting as an envoy to Asia on behalf of the United States government, with the intent of negotiating trade deals in the region. During his mission, he reached deals both with
Said bin Sultan Sayyid Saïd bin Sultan al-Busaidi (, , ) (5 June 1791 – 19 October 1856) was Sultan of Muscat and Oman, the fifth ruler of the Al Bu Said dynasty from 1804 to 4 June 1856. His rule began after a period of conflict and internecine rivalry of su ...
, the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, and the
Phra Khlang Chatusadom or Catustambha ( , literally "Four Pillars" from Sanskrit ''Catur'' "Four" + ''Stambha'' "Pillars") was the Thai system of central executive governance during the Ayutthaya Kingdom, Thonburi Kingdom and Rattanakosin Kingdom from 1454 ...
of
Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
(modern Thailand), an important financial minister of that nation. Roberts was given items which were to be presented as gifts to the officials with whom he was negotiating, but described them as being of "very mean quality, and of inconsiderable value". After the treaties were ratified in the United States, Roberts had to return to Siam and Muscat to receive approval from the representatives of those nations. In a letter to the
Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
dated October 8, 1834, Roberts decried the gifts of his previous journey as inadequate and insulting to his hosts in the Orient. In addition to several other items, he requested a set of coins as an appropriate offering to Said bin Sultan:
I am rather at a loss to know what articles will be most acceptable to the Sultan, but I suppose a complete set of new gold & silver & copper coins of the U.S. neatly arranged in a
morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
case & then to have an outward covering would be proper to send not only to the sultan, but to other Asiatics.
In a November 11, 1834 letter sent to Mint Director Samuel Moore, Secretary of State John Forsyth approved Roberts' suggestion, writing:
The President /nowiki>Andrew Jackson">Andrew_Jackson.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Andrew Jackson">/nowiki>Andrew Jackson/nowiki> has directed that a complete set of the coins of the United States be sent to the Monarchy of Thailand">King of Siam The monarchy of Thailand is the constitutional monarchy, constitutional form of government of Thailand (formerly ''Siam''). The king of Thailand (, historically, ''king of Siam''; ) is the head of state and head of the ruling Chakri dynasty. ...
, and another to the Sultan of Muscat. You are requested, therefore, to forward to the Department for that purpose, duplicate specimens of each kind now in use, whether of gold, silver, or copper. He also directed Moore to have two Morocco leather boxes made to house the coins. He stated that one should be yellow in color, and the other crimson, and that funds could be drawn from the Treasury for the value of the boxes and coins. Later, in a letter dated December 2, 1834, Forsyth directed Moore to include "national emblems" (including an eagle and stars) on the exterior of the cases. In their book ''The Fantastic 1804 Dollar'', numismatic historians Eric P. Newman and Kenneth Bressett, Kenneth E. Bressett assert that a problem arose at the Mint as to how to interpret Forsyth's order. As his initial correspondence indicated that the sets were to include coins of every type then in use, Mint officials included both the silver dollar and gold
eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
. The moratorium on silver dollar coinage had been lifted in 1831, but none had been coined since those issued in March 1804. Two sets of coins, minted in
proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a co ...
finish, were completed and delivered along with their boxes to Roberts shortly prior to his departure on the USS ''Peacock'' on April 27, 1835. The dollars included the sets bore the Draped Bust design, depicting an allegorical representation of
Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...
on the obverse and a heraldic eagle on the reverse. A list of diplomatic gifts was also proposed for missions to Japan and
Cochin-China Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer to the region south o ...
(today part of Vietnam), which included two additional sets of coins. Roberts delivered the first set of coins to Said bin Sultan on October 1, 1835. He delivered the next set to King
Rama III Nangklao (born Thap; 31 March 1788 – 2 April 1851), also known by his regnal name Rama III, was the third king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, ruling from 21 July 1824 to 2 April 1851. Nangklao was the eldest surviving son of King Rama II. ...
of Siam the following year, on April 6. Roberts died in
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
on June 12, 1836, before he could initiate contact with any other nations. On June 30, Edmund P. Kennedy, commodore of the diplomatic fleet, wrote to the State Department that he had "directed that the presents hich remained ungifted due to Roberts’ deathbe forwarded to the United States". The proof sets meant for Cochin-China and Japan were likely included in the shipment of returned presents. All dollars struck for inclusion in the diplomatic gift sets were likely dated 1804. It is unknown why that date was chosen for the dollars, but numismatic historian R.W. Julian suggests that it could have been done to prevent angering collectors who would not have been able to acquire the 1834-dated coin for their collections; Chief Coiner
Adam Eckfeldt John Adam Eckfeldt (June 15, 1769 – February 6, 1852) was an American worker and official during the first years of the United States Mint. A lifelong Philadelphian, Eckfeldt served as the second chief coiner of the Mint, from 1814 until 183 ...
, after consulting with Moore, mistakenly determined that 19,570 dollars bearing the date 1804 were struck in that year. The dollars minted for the diplomatic gift sets, as well as other examples struck with the same dies, are collectively known as "Class I" 1804 dollars. In total, eight specimens of this type are known today.


Later restrikes

During the nineteenth century, Mint employees produced unauthorized copies of medals and coins, sometimes backdated. Although coin restrikes were created openly at the Philadelphia Mint from the 1830s, the practice became clandestine by the end of the 1850s. In the decades after the first 1804 dollars were produced, collectors became aware of their existence and desired to obtain them. Several were struck at the Mint in 1858. Those coins, which became known as "Class II" 1804 dollars, had plain, unlettered edges, as opposed to standard issue Draped Bust dollars and those struck as diplomatic gifts, all of which had edge lettering applied by the
Castaing machine The Castaing machine is a device used to add lettering and decoration to the edge of a coin. Such lettering was necessitated by counterfeiting and edge clipping, which was a common problem resulting from the uneven and irregular hammered coinage ...
. In 1859,
James Ross Snowden James Ross Snowden (December 9, 1809  – March 21, 1878 ) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives representing Venango and Clarion counties from 1838 to ...
unsuccessfully requested permission from the
Treasury Secretary The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
to create patterns and restrikes of rare coins for sale to collectors, and in that year, dealers began offering plain edge 1804 dollars to the public. At least three were offered for sale by various dealers in 1859, and coin dealer Ebenezer Locke Mason claimed that he was offered three by Theodore Eckfeldt, a Mint employee and nephew of Adam Eckfeldt (who had died in 1852). After the public became aware that Mint officials had permitted restrikes, there was a minor scandal which resulted in a Congressional investigation and the destruction of outdated coinage dies. The controversy prompted William E. DuBois, Mint Assayer, to try, in 1860, to recall the examples of the 1804 dollar in private hands. According to DuBois, five coins were known to be privately owned, of which four were recovered. He stated that three were destroyed in his presence, and one was added to the Mint's coin cabinet (of which he was curator, and which is today the
National Numismatic Collection The National Numismatic Collection is the national coin cabinet of the United States. The collection is part of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Overview The National Numismatic Collection comprises approxi ...
), where it remains today. The coin, which is the sole known Class II specimen in existence, was struck over an 1857 Swiss
shooting thaler A shooting thaler ( ; ; ) is a silver coin in thaler size minted to commemorate a Schützenfest (French: ''Fête de tir'') or free shooting (German: ''Freischiessen'', French: ''Tir libre'') in Switzerland. In a narrow sense, Swiss ''Schützenta ...
minted for the federal shooting festival held in
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
. The fifth coin, alluded to by DuBois, is not currently accounted for, although its edge may have been lettered after its recovery in an attempt to pass it as an original. Coins with added lettering are known as "Class III" 1804 dollars. The
obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...
coinage die used to strike the Class II and Class III 1804 dollars was deposited in safekeeping in 1860, and the reverse die was destroyed in that year. The obverse die was defaced in 1869. Class III dollars are identical to the Class II dollar, except lettering similar to that on the Class I dollars was applied to the edge of the coins. Based on the slightly concave appearance of the Class III dollars, it is likely that all were given edge lettering at some point after striking; as the Castaing machine was meant to be used prior to striking, its improper use resulted in a deformation of the coin surface. Newman and Bressett assert that they were struck at approximately the same time as the Class II dollars, and that the edges were lettered and the coins concealed by Mint employees until 1869, when one was offered to a coin collector, who rejected it as a restrike. However, numismatist S. Hudson Chapman believed that some Class III dollars were struck as late as 1876. In 1875, several were sold by Philadelphia coin dealer John W. Haseltine. Six specimens of the Class III dollar are known today.


Numismatic interest

Collectors first became aware of the existence of the 1804 dollar in 1842, when a
pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a Linkage (mechanical), mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a se ...
reproduction of one specimen was featured in ''A Manual of Gold and Silver Coins of All Nations'', a work authored by Mint employees Jacob R. Eckfeldt and William DuBois. The first private collector to obtain an example was Matthew A. Stickney, who acquired the coin from the Mint on May 9, 1843, by trading certain rare coins from his collection, including a unique early United States Immune Columbia coin struck in gold. Interest in coin collecting and the 1804 dollars began increasing, and by 1860, the dollars saw extensive coverage by numismatists. In 1885, auctioneer W.E. Woodward described the 1804 dollar as "the king of coins", a moniker which it maintains today. Numismatic historian
Q. David Bowers Quentin David Bowers (born October 21, 1938) is an American numismatist, author, and columnist. Beginning in 1952, Bowers’s contributions to numismatics have continued uninterrupted and unabated to the present day.
asserts that the 1804 dollar has attracted more attention than any other coin. All fifteen extant specimens are acknowledged and studied by numismatists. They are identified by nicknames based on prominent owners, or the first individuals known to have possessed the coins. At the 1962
American Numismatic Association The American Numismatic Association (ANA) is an organization founded in 1891 by George Francis Heath. Located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, it was formed to advance the knowledge of numismatics (the study of coins) along educational, historic ...
convention, British numismatist David B. Spink announced that he was in possession of a theretofore unknown 1804 dollar specimen. The coin was housed in a yellow leather case embossed with an eagle and other ornamentation, conforming to the description of that made for the King of Siam. The set consisted of a
half cent The half cent was the smallest denomination of United States coin ever minted. It was first minted in 1793 and last minted in 1857. In that time, it had purchasing power equivalent to between ¢ and ¢ in values. It was minted with five diffe ...
, cent, dime, quarter,
half dollar The term "half dollar" refers to a half-unit of several currencies that are named "dollar". One dollar ( $1) is normally divided into subsidiary currency of 100 cents, so a half dollar is equal to 50 cents. Although more than a dozen countries h ...
, dollar,
quarter eagle The quarter eagle is a gold coin that was issued by the United States with a value of two hundred and fifty cents, or two dollars and fifty cents. It was given its name in the Coinage Act of 1792, as a derivation from the US ten-dollar Eagle (U ...
,
half eagle The half eagle is a United States coin that was produced for circulation from 1795 to 1929 and in commemorative and bullion coins since 1983. Composed almost entirely of gold, its face value of five dollars is half that of the eagle coin. Pr ...
and
eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
. As all of the coins in the set were dated 1834 with the exception of the dollar and eagle, it provided the first definitive proof that an 1804 dollar was included in the diplomatic presentation sets. According to Spink, the set was offered to him by two women whom he believed were descendants of
Anna Leonowens Anna Harriette Leonowens (born Ann Hariett Emma Edwards; 5 November 1831 – 19 January 1915) was an Anglo-Indian or Indian-born British travel writer, educator, and social activist. She became well known with the publication of her memoirs, ...
, tutor of the children of
Rama IV Mongkut (18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama IV. He reigned from 1851 until his death in 1868. The reign of Mongkut was marked by significant modernization initiatives and diplomat ...
(half-brother and heir of Rama III) and fictionalized protagonist of the
Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their musical ...
musical ''
The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childr ...
''.


Years of production

The fact that no 1804 dollars were struck in 1804 was not widely accepted by numismatists until the early twentieth century. Before such time, the actual year in which they were struck remained contentious among numismatists. Early on, collectors assumed that the 1804 dollars were struck in 1804, and their rarity was explained by various theories. The bulk of the mintage was variously rumored to have been paid to
Barbary pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...
as ransom, lost at sea en route to China, and melted before leaving the Philadelphia Mint. In 1867, numismatist W. Elliot Woodward acknowledged that 1804 dollars were struck as diplomatic gifts in 1834, but he also believed that others were struck in 1804. Numismatists Lyman H. Low and William T. R. Marvin, writing for the ''American Journal of Numismatics'' in 1899, stated that "the journal confidently asserts that there is no dollar dated 1804 which was struck in that year by the U.S. Mint." In 1891, numismatist John A. Nexsen wrote that the Class I 1804 dollars were "without doubt coined in 1804". In 1905, he recanted his earlier assertions, stating that "no one now believes that they were coined in 1804." According to Newman and Bressett, the manner in which the 1804 dollars were produced is proof that none were struck in 1804. They note that the Castaing machine's edging dies utilized an 'H' that was undersized in relation to the other letters, the same as those used on Draped Bust dollars throughout the regular production of those coins. However, the edge lettering on all Class I 1804 dollars is deformed and partially obliterated, meaning that they were not struck in an open-collared coinage press as was used in 1804, but one which used a steel collar that was not introduced to the Mint until 1833. The deformation of the edge lettering was caused by pressure pushing the coinage metal against the steel collar containing the coin blank. Additionally, many 1804 dollars were struck in proof finish, a technique which was first employed at the Mint in 1817.


Sale prices

From the time numismatists became aware of 1804 dollars, they have commanded high prices, both in relation to their face value and the numismatic value of other silver dollars. Some early examples were maintained in the Mint's coin cabinet for use in trades, and in 1859, dealers began offering Class II dollars priced at $75, while Theodore Eckfeldt reportedly offered a Philadelphia coin dealer three coins for $70 each. In 1883, a Class III dollar was reportedly purchased in Vienna for $740, and a Class I specimen was auctioned for $1,000 in 1885 by Henry and Samuel H. Chapman. In 1903, an example sold for $1,800, and the same coin reportedly sold for $4,250 in 1941. In 1960, a Class III dollar fetched $28,000 at an auction conducted by Stack's, a coin firm, and the same coin reached $36,000 at another Stack's sale in 1963. A Class I specimen brought $77,500 at a 1970 Stack's auction, and during a 1980 rise in coin prices, a Class III example sold for $400,000 by Bowers and Ruddy Galleries. A Class I example reached $990,000 at a Superior Galleries auction in 1990, and an example once owned by coin collector Louis Eliasberg became the first 1804 dollar to surpass $1 million at auction, selling for $1,815,000 at a sale conducted by Bowers and Merena, Inc., in 1997. The price reached an all-time high in 1999, when the finest known specimen, graded Proof-68 by the
Professional Coin Grading Service Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) is an American third-party coin grading, authentication, attribution, and encapsulation service founded in 1985. The intent of its seven founding dealers, including the firm's former president David Hall, ...
, which is believed to have been the example presented to Said bin Sultan, was auctioned by Bowers and Merena for $4,140,000. At the time of the sale, this was the highest price paid for any coin. In 2008, a Class I example was sold by
Heritage Auctions Heritage Auctions is an American multi-national auction house based in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1976, Heritage is an auctioneer of numismatic collections, comics, fine art, books, luxury accessories, real estate, and memorabilia from film, mus ...
for $3,737,500, and a Class III was sold by the same firm for $2,300,000 in 2009.


Counterfeits and reproductions

Counterfeits and spurious reproductions of the 1804 dollar have been created since numismatists became aware of the coins' high value. James A. Bolen, a medallist and coin collector who created copies of valuable coins between 1862 and 1869, fabricated an 1804 dollar by altering the last digit in the date of a genuine 1803 example. Although Bolen added his name to the edge of the coin, other forgers created altered date coins with the intent to deceive. Nineteenth-century stage actor
John T. Raymond John T. Raymond (1836-1887), whose original name was John O'Brien, was an American stage actor, born in Buffalo, New York, on August 5, 1836; he died in Evansville, Indiana on April 10, 1887. His first appearance was made on June 27, 1853, at a ...
purchased a specimen of the coin, which was later revealed to be a forgery, for $300. All silver dollars dated between 1800 and 1803 were subject to alteration to 1804 dollars, but 1801 was the date most commonly used for that purpose. In addition to altered dates, electrotypes of the 1804 dollar were created, both for the purposes of study and fraud. One such coin in the collection of the
San Francisco Mint The San Francisco Mint is a branch of the United States Mint. Opened in 1854 to serve the gold mines of the California gold rush, in twenty years its operations exceeded the capacity of the first building. It moved into a new one in 1874, now kn ...
was described by them as genuine from 1887 to 1927. Electrotypes were also created by Mint employees, and one was used as the basis for the pantograph reproductions which appeared in Eckfeldt and DuBois' 1842 ''A Manual of Gold and Silver Coins of All Nations''. More modern replicas, known as "Saigon copies", were commonly offered as original at low prices to American soldiers during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. In
Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
and other
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...
ese cities, as well in nearby Thailand, military personnel were offered the copies by vendors who sometimes claimed that they were family heirlooms. In 2012, Professional Coin Grading Service founder David Hall stated that counterfeit 1804 dollars had been available in Hong Kong for decades.


Known specimens


See also

*
List of most expensive coins The following list is a chart of the most expensive coins. Most of these are auction prices. Several private sale prices over $2m are not in this list yet. References coins.ha.com Retrieved on 2020-06-21. * Yeoman, R.S. ''A Guide Book of Un ...


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:1804 dollar 1835 introductions Goddess of Liberty on coins United States dollar coins Eagles on coins