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.
1804 Silver Dollar
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___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You also agree to follow these guidelines. You must agree to these rules to be a member of this forum. NO SPAM! Spam is deleted within minutes, no spam will ever be left in our community.
1. Post a front and back image of your coin with a specific question about what you’re seeing or asking about and one coin per topic.
2. Please remove coin from the holder unless it’s US or an official mint case or unless it is graded by a grading service.
3. Images should be taken by a camera or cell phone camera, we ask that members don’t use images through a microscope screen.
4. Always start your own topic, please don’t ask about your coin or post your coin in someone else’s coin topic.
5. Do not send private messages about your coin unless an Admin ask you too and the same for sending emails through the board.
6. No spam. Do not post any links to your coin or other non-coin websites.
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Re: 1804 Silver Dollar
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
I thought that one was going to get the nod from the other thread. happydance:
Thanks Mark.
Thanks Mark.
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