1804 Silver Dollar

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mhonzell
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1804 Silver Dollar

#1 Unread post by mhonzell »

Considered by many to be the most notorious coin in existence, the 1804 silver dollar is not at all what it seems.

The story goes like this:
The US Mint struck 19,570 1804 silver dollars with the previous year’s plate, which ended up stamping the year 1803 on them by mistake. These were never released. If you own one, the Secret Service can nab it without repercussion.

The Mint stopped making silver dollars for three decades until President Jackson, in 1834, ordered a copy of each coin in circulation to be given as a gift to the King of Siam (Thailand). So, the Mint struck a small amount of 1804 silver dollars, with “1804” stamped on them. This was technically wrong, since the originals had 1803. Of these, eight are know to exist, but there may be 10. They were made in the Mint and placed in "circulation", so they are legal to own. The last one sold at auction went for $4.14 million dollars.

As seen, the coins became valuable. So, a counterfeiter named Theodore Eckfeldt, a worker at the US Mint, struck several, without the edge lettering, and sold them to a coin store in Philadelphia in 1858. All of them had the date 1804, not 1803. The Mint figured out what was going on and tracked down and destroyed all of the coins except for one.

Apparently, he didn't learn any lessons, as Eckfeldt made more the following year, in 1859, but this time restoring the edge lettering. Some of these made it into collector's hands... six are known to exist.

But, back to the lone, plain edged 1804 Silver Dollar in existence... It is considered to be one of the most valuable coins in the world and now resides at the Smithsonian Institution, even though it is technically a counterfeit coin.
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Re: 1804 Silver Dollar

#2 Unread post by Daniel »

A lot of interesting history from the US Mint, dealers and mint employees in the 1800's. Thanks for posting.

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Re: 1804 Silver Dollar

#3 Unread post by PetesPockets55 »

I thought that one was going to get the nod from the other thread. happydance:
Thanks Mark.

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Re: 1804 Silver Dollar

#4 Unread post by Paul »

TY M,

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