Q. David Bowers
A View of the 1804 Dollar (1876)
The Coin and Stamp Journal; Kansas City, Missouri, February 1876, included the following:
"DOLLAR OF 1804. The Mint report shows the coinage of dollars of this year to have been 19,570. But there can be no doubt that the records are wrong, for if that number of pieces had been put into circulation it could hardly become as rare as it is, and the numerous errors in the early records of the Mint proves plainly that they can not be relied on.
"The few public sales of this coin that we find were,
"The one in Mr. Mickley's collection, which was sold in 1867, and brought $750. Described: 'This piece is regarded by all American collectors as the gem of Mr. Mickley's collection. It has been in circulation, but is still in the finest condition, retaining its brilliancy of surface, and being entirely uninjured. It was obtained many years ago from the Bank of Pennsylvania, and is beyond question, not only genuine but original. Of the four specimens known, two, it is certain, were struck at a period subsequent to 1804, and till one was recently obtained by Col. Cohen from Richmond, this was supposed to be the only original one existing. '
"The dollar in the collection of Prof. J.M. Macallister, sold Sept. 24, 1873, for $75.00. Described: 'Fine; and if a genuine original dollar of this date, very valuable. There being some controversy on this point, it is due the owner to say that he proposes personally to offer proof of its authenticity, and to guarantee the same to the purchaser. This assurance from the very responsible owner, and the right of private judgment, which in such a case will always be exercised, reduces the affair to a sufficiently fine point, and there we will leave it.' [The coin was subsequently judged to be false.]
"At the Sanford sale Nov. 27, 1874, the price received was $700.00. Described: 'This dollar I guarantee is original, and a remarkably fine impression, and is known to be one of, if not the most rare piece in the American series, not more than four or five being known to collectors in the United States.'
"The one sold at the Stenz sale May 17, 1875, as the price shows, was very doubtful, and brought only $3.75. Described: 'Stained and somewhat rubbed, but still in Very Good condition. (Accompanying this coin is the following note: 'Obtained through great personal exertions from Dr. Liebig, from the collection of his intimate friend, the celebrated Prof. Schledchausen, now deceased.' This information is interesting, yet the great traveler may have been imposed upon, the motive to do it was large, on account of the extreme rarity and great value of a dollar of this date. It would be rash to decide absolutely against its authenticity, but the purchaser must exercise his own judgment.)'[A false coin.]
"The last one sold, at Col. Cohen's sale Oct. 25, 1875, for $325.00. Described: 'This extremely rare dollar was procured from Richmond, Virginia, where it was known to Col. Cohen to exist for many years before it came into his possession. It has been more circulated than either of the two previously sold at auction, and has every appearance of having been struck off in the year of its date, and is guaranteed to be original.' "
The Coin and Stamp Journal, March 1876, continued the study:
"Previous to Col. Cohen's sale, the five genuine dollars of this date, were in the hands of the following gentlemen: Col. M.l. Cohen, Baltimore, Md.; W.S. Appleton, Boston, Mass.; M.A. Stickney, Salem, Mass., L.G. Parmelee, Boston, Mass.; The U.S. Mint, Philadelphia.
"Mr. Stickney, in the American Journal of Numismatics, says in regard to his piece: 'I have a genuine Proof dollar of the United States coinage of 1804. On the 18th of Nov., 1866, Mr. Andrews wrote me again, offering in the name of his friend, $1,000 in currency for the dollar I declined the offer on the 23rd of the same month.' "
Smith on the 1804 Dollar (1881)
The following is from A.M. Smith, The Illustrated History of the U.S. Mint, 1881:
"The rarest United States coin is the double eagle of 1849 of which there is only one in existence and belongs to the U.S. Mint Cabinet. The next in rarity is the half eagle of 1815, of this date there are only seven specimens known to exist. The silver dollar of1804 is also one of the rare coins; of this dollar only 10 genuine specimens are known to exist, all of which are now held by collectors. Of the 1804 dollar several restrikes have been made. To obtain a fine one from original dies it would cost at least $1,000."
Mason on the 1804 Dollar (1885)
The following is from Mason's Monthly Illustrated Coin Collector's Magazine, May 1885, pages 121-122:
"CORRESPONDENCE.
"WASHINGTON, D.C., April 23, 1885.
"MASON & Co.
"Gents,-Is there not more to be said about the 1804 United States dollars than is generally known among collectors? It has frequently been stated, that the dies of this dollar have been destroyed, and that, before being destroyed, there were struck off, at the United States Mint in Philadelphia upon two occasions, several specimens. How is it in regard to this matter? and how many 1804 dollars are extant? 'and where located?
''JUSTITIA.
"REPLY.
"We can only give the stories current during the exhibition of specimens of the 1804 United States silver dollars to coin dealers and collectors; and one of these rumors was to the effect, that either Adam Eckfeldt or his son surreptitiously struckoff in 1858 three specimens of the 1804 dollars, each having a plain edge. These specimens were exhibited to us in 1,860, by Eckfeldt. June and offered for sale at seventy dollars each. They were very fine Proof-looking pieces, and one of them was sold to a coin dealer (William Idler of Pennsylvania), and sold by him to a collector, and afterwards, recovered through the efforts of R.C. Davis, and, with the other two specimens, returned to a committee for destruction, at the United States Mint. The rues were then sealed up until Marshal Millward's directorship of the Mint during the latter years of the Rebellion, and then taken out of a safe, unsealed, and a number of old dollars, smoothed down, used as planchets, in consequence of having the lettered edges, and several (some rumors gave the number as twelve) 1804 dollars struck.' After this second use of the dies in an illegal manner, they were defaced and destroyed.
"We give this story just as we heard it; and would add, that one of these pieces was exhibited at a coin sale in New York, in our presence and the presence of Mr. [Joseph N.T.] Levick and Professor [Charles E.] Anthon, and, perhaps, Edward Cogan. The piece seemed to be dishing, or sunken, in the field; was bright as a Proof, but the edge was unmistakably old, and apparently the edge of an old dollar; while all pronounced the piece lighter in weight than the silver dollar of early dates. Another of these restrikes turned up subsequently in Morristown, N.J. and One was in the possession of a Mr .. Thatcher of Philadelphia; another in Liverpool, as late as 1874. In regard to the present ownership of the original 1804 dollars and the restrikes, we are unable to locate more than seven or eight specimens; viz., one in the United States Mint (perhaps two); one in Mr. LG. Parmelee's cabinet, Boston; one in Salem, Mass. (Col. M.A. Stickney, owner); one in the Furman Cabinet, Providence, R.I.; the Cohen dollar, in W.B. Wetmore's cabinet; one in R.C. Davis's cabinet, Philadelphia; one in W.S. Appleton's cabinet; and one now in Chapman's hands, to be sold on the 14th of the present month. It is our impression that a full 'baker's dozen' of 1804 dollars is extant; but, more or less, the fact remains, that either original or restrike will bring over one thousand dollars at a public coin-sale."