1804 $1 Class III PR58 PCGS. BB-306, R.7. When the topic of the most important and famous American coins is broached,...
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Description
1804 Class III Draped Bust Dollar
The Fabled Adams-Carter Specimen
PR58 PCGS
The Greatest Trophy in U.S. Numismatics
1804 $1 Class III PR58 PCGS. BB-306, R.7. When the topic of
the most important and famous American coins is broached, several
rarities come to mind. Among them is the 1933 double eagle, holder
of the current record for most valuable coin ever sold at auction,
at $18 million. There is also the 1913 Liberty Head nickel, with
its shadowy origins and sparse mintage. And there is the 1822 half
eagle, which owes its rarity to the economic realities of the time
and has been known as a key issue for over a century and a
half.However, only one U.S. issue has been crowned the "King of United States Coins" by many of the most respected names across numismatics' entire history: the 1804 dollar. The pioneering Chapman brothers used this term to describe it at least as early as 1885 and repeated the assertion many times over their 50+ year career. Also in 1885, George C. Evans called the 1804 dollar "The King among Rarities" in History of the United States Mint. And in 1941, the numismatically immortal B. Max Mehl stated that, "[i]n all of numismatics of the entire world...there never has been a single coin which was and is the subject of so much romance, interest, [and] comment."
The 1804 dollar has all the attributes of the aforementioned would-be contenders to the throne, and more. It had a miniscule mintage, with just 16 pieces known today, six of which are housed in museums. It was produced in multiple production runs under unusual and/or mysterious circumstances decades after the date on the coin. Its denomination was discontinued in the year the coin was dated due to the economic realities plaguing the United States at that time. It has been known since the early 1840s, putting itself on the map multiple times before American coin collecting exploded in 1857. And since then, it has seen massive collector demand, accounting for nine of the 50 highest auction prices realized for U.S. coins despite the infrequency of its appearances. No other coin has ranked #1 in Jeff Garrett's 100 Greatest U.S. Coins more than once, but the 1804 dollar has achieved that distinction four times in six editions. History will surely continue to affirm this statement: The 1804 dollar is the United States' greatest coin.
Origin of the 1804 Dollar (Class I)
On January 27, 1832, President Andrew Jackson appointed Edmund Quincy Roberts as a special agent of the United States to negotiate treaties with Siam, Muscat, Japan, and Cochin China. At the time, the U.S. government was expanding trade with the Far East and diplomatic etiquette of the time required an exchange of gifts between treaty partners. Accordingly, gift packages were assembled for the various monarchs, which included clocks, maps, cut glass, firearms, ship models, and telescopes. In addition, special presentation sets of the national coinage were included in the gift packages to those nations.
A New Hampshire native, Roberts was born in Portsmouth on June 29, 1784. He was the son of Captain Edmund Roberts and his wife, Sarah Roberts, nee Griffiths. His father died when he was just three years old, and his mother died just a few days before his 17th birthday. Roberts married Catherine Whipple Langdon in 1808, and the couple had 11 children born between 1810 and 1828. Three of their children died in infancy. Catherine was about 43 years old when she died in 1830.
Roberts was tasked with negotiation of treaties with Siam (Thailand), Muscat and Oman (Oman), Japan, and Cochin-China (Vietnam). Because of the importance of his mission, Roberts was escorted by a two-ship flotilla, consisting of the sloop-of-war U.S.S. Peacock, and the smaller U.S.S. Boxer, under the command of Captain David Geisinger. Various newspapers, including the Niles Weekly Register, reported in December 1836:
"Our readers doubtless know that a treaty of friendship and commerce was negotiated, about three years ago, with the sultan of Muscat (a gentleman, by the way, and a liberal enlightened monarch), by Edmund Roberts, esq. (lately deceased), who went out in the Peacock for that purpose. The second mission of Mr. Roberts, on which he was engaged at the time of his death, in June last, was to carry out the ratification of the treaties engaged into with the sultan of Muscat and the king of Siam; and also, we believe, to make another effort to negotiate a treaty with the emperor of Cochin-China, the first having failed through the absurd and vexatious requisitions of etiquette insisted on by the Cochin-Chinese officers."
In advance of his second mission, presentation sets of coinage were produced and included in gift packages. Two sets were assembled for presentation to the King of Siam and the Sultan of Muscat in late 1834, and two more sets were made for the emperors of Japan and Cochin-China in early 1835. The coinage sets included proof examples of all denominations from the half cent through the 10-dollar gold piece. However, two of the coins, the silver dollar and the eagle, were not current. Officials researched the latest issue of those two denominations and determined that examples of each should be produced with the date 1804. That was certainly appropriate for the eagle, as 1804-dated eagles were struck three decades earlier. On the other hand, there were no 1804-dated silver dollars produced that year, as all the more than 19,000 silver dollars struck in 1804 were from 1803-dated dies, or perhaps even earlier-dated dies.
The Vermont Phoenix reported on April 17, 1835: "Edmund Roberts, Esq. of Portsmouth, N.H. is to sail shortly in a sloop of war to Siam, charged with presents to the King of that country, with whom the United States some time since concluded a treaty. He thence proceeds to Cochin-China to form a commercial arrangement with the Chinese."
During his second voyage, Roberts successfully delivered sets to the Sultan of Muscat and the King of Siam. He had two additional sets that were intended for Japan and Cochin-China. Prior to his arrival in those countries, Roberts contracted dysentery and died in the port of Macao. The mission was then aborted, and the sets were returned to the U.S. government. It seems likely that the coins were returned to the State Department, rather than the Treasury, when the U.S.S. Peacock returned to the United States in November of 1837. Since two Class I 1804 dollars (the Mickley and Cohen specimens) later surfaced in circulation, it seems likely that the coins in the proof sets were simply spent on State Department business at some time in the future. The sets presented to the King of Siam and the Sultan of Muscat both reappeared in European holdings many years later.
In addition to the four 1804 dollars included in the proof sets, four more specimens of the Class I 1804 dollar are known to collectors today. It seems likely that these coins were struck at roughly the same time as the examples in the proof sets, possibly in anticipation of further missions in the future, but no official documentation on the striking of these coins has ever come to light. These coins were apparently saved by Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt and placed in the Mint Cabinet when that collection was formed in 1838. One example remains in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution today. Another coin was traded to pioneer collector Matthew Stickney in 1843. The other two pieces surfaced in private hands many years later, also presumably purchased from Mint personnel, like William E. DuBois, Curator of the Mint Cabinet. The Class I 1804 dollar was hailed as a premier rarity by 19th century collectors and each appearance was featured prominently in the numismatic press. Some early appearances of the 1804 dollar are listed in the next section of this lot description, and a roster of known specimens is provided at the end.
Early Appearances and Growing Fame
The most famous Class I 1804 dollars are certainly the Sultan of Muscat and the King of Siam specimens, even though those high-grade examples were late coming on the numismatic scene. The Sultan of Muscat 1804 dollar first appeared at auction in 1917 and the legendary King of Siam proof set did not publicly resurface until 1962. Meanwhile, other Class I examples have attracted a host of storied collectors since 1843. Along the way, seemingly each 1804 dollar's appearance leads to the rapid escalation of value both in public auctions and sales by private treaty – an upward trajectory that is confirmed in today's rare coin market. The Sultan of Muscat 1804 dollar realized $7,680,000 in a Stack's Bowers 2021 auction and has since migrated to the Elite Collection by private treaty. Likewise, the intact King of Siam presentation set went to Steve Contursi of Rare Coin Wholesalers in 2005 for a reported $8,500,000 and more recently was acquired by the Tyrant Collection.
These two high-grade, high visibility Diplomatic Presentation strikings engender the intense numismatic interest among all eight Class I 1804 dollars that exist today. They serve as standard bearers for the five Class I coins now held in private hands and confirm the importance of the three Class I examples that are permanently held in museum collections.
Although the diplomatic presentation proof sets were dispatched to the Sultan of Muscat and the King of Siam in 1835 and 1836 via Edmund Roberts' ill-fated Special Envoy missions, there was little awareness of any 1804 silver dollars within the numismatic community until the 1842 publication of A Manual of Gold and Silver Coins of All Nations by Jacob Reese Eckfeldt and William E. DuBois. DuBoise served as curator of the Mint Cabinet and his publication of well-detailed photographic engravings showcased the Mint Cabinets' most important coins, including a clear image of an 1804 silver dollar. America's most prominent collectors took notice.
Matthew Sitckney's 1843 Mint Transaction
Massachusetts collector Matthew Adams Stickney was one of the most important numismatists of the 19th century. Born in 1805, he began his collecting activities sometime around 1820. He systematically collected U.S. federal issues from an early date and kept his collection intact until his death in 1894. He was also one of the most advanced collectors in the country by 1842. When Stickney purchased the Eckfeldt and DuBois Mint Manual, he recognized the rarity of the 1804 dollar as soon as he saw the coin's engraving. In a famous transaction in 1843, Stickney traded assorted Pine Tree coins and a 1785-dated Immune Columbia piece struck over a gold guinea (valued at about $10) for his 1804 dollar – seemingly, a generous return for an 1804 silver dollar that Stickney claimed was not considered especially valuable at the time. Both Stickney and the Mint officials he dealt with obviously realized the 1804 was special, even at that early date, but Stickney also received a number of other coins in this transaction, to balance the trade more equitably. DuBois also gave Stickney a list of other prominent numismatists known to Mint officials during his 1843 visit, and he corresponded with them and various coin dealers and numismatic societies over the years, making his 1804 dollar transaction one of the most famous numismatic purchases of all time. The coin is currently graded PR65 PCGS. He famously wrote to Edward Cogan in 1867:
"Of the genuineness of my U.S. Dollar of 1804, I think there cannot be entertained a doubt, as it was handed me directly from the Cabinet of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, on the 9th of May, 1843, by one of its officers, (Mr. W. E. Dubois,) who still holds the same situation there and can testify to it. It was not then considered any more valuable than any other of the series, and I only desired it to help make up the Chronological Series, which I perhaps was the first to attempt to make, of U.S. Coins."
Stickney was especially anxious to establish the legitimacy of his 1804 dollar in his 1867 letter to Cogan, because the appearance of the Class II dollars (around 1860) had caused much public outcry against the Mint's practice of providing restrikes of rare issues to favored collectors. Writing 24 years after the transaction, Stickney implied that he received the coin directly from DuBois during his May 9, 1843 visit, but the transaction was much more complex and extended than a simple on-the-spot exchange. A study of Stickney's correspondence in the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum reveals a July 12, 1843-dated letter from DuBois to Stickney stating that he had just mailed the 1804 dollar to Stickney, along with 14 other coins, some of them specially struck, to balance the trade for the Pine Tree coins and the high-value Immune Columbia piece (see "The Stickney-DuBois Connection", The Numismatist, October 2016 issue for a detailed examination of the transaction).
Joseph Mickley's Class I 1804 Dollar
It is possible Joseph Mickley discovered the Mint's 1804 Class I dollars even before the Stickney trade. Mickley and his brother visited the Mint in 1841 and may have discovered the Mint Cabinet's two 1804 dollars before Stickney made his 1843 visit to the Mint. Born in 1799, Mickley began collecting coins in 1816, when he tried to acquire a cent from the date of his birth for a keepsake. As Mickley soon learned, the 1799 large cent is the most elusive date in the entire series, and the difficulty he experienced in finding one piqued his interest in rare coins. His collecting activities in the 1820s were probably not as extensive as some collectors such as Stickney or Robert Gilmor, because he did not have the financial resources to collect at that level as a young man. He had a collection of silver dollars by 1827, however, and his activities undoubtedly increased throughout the following decade. By the time of the Dr. Lewis Roper Sale (Moses Thomas & Sons, 2/1851) -- the first significant coin auction held in the United States -- he had become the most prolific buyer of U.S. coins in the country -- and he purchased the lion's share of American coins in the sale. His collection was the most complete and well-known gathering in the United States by the 1860s. According to several 19th century sources Mickley's 1804 dollar surfaced in a bank deposit at the Bank of Pennsylvania around 1850. The cashier, a Mr. Henry C. Young, recognized the coin as something special, probably just because the old Draped Bust dollars were seldom seen in circulation by then. Young pulled the coin out of the deposit, apparently for face value. Mickley reportedly acquired this coin from Young sometime in the 1850s, certainly by 1858. The first public offering of a Class I 1804 dollar was lot 1696 of the Joseph Mickley Collection. The Mickley Class I coin graded PR62 PCGS when it realized $3,877,500 in one of Heritage's 2013 Signature auctions. It is now in the D.L. Hansen Collection.
The Dexter Specimen
Perhaps no other numismatic event during the 1880s did more to further the understanding of the 1804 dollar than Adolph Weyl's offering of a previously unknown Class I dollar that appeared as lot 159 in an October 1884 auction. The Chapman brothers were active in auctions throughout Europe during that time despite their upstart status among U.S. coin dealers and auctioneers. The brothers recognized lot 159 as an original 1804 dollar and offered a winning bid of $216 for the coin. After receiving the coin and confirming its status as an "original," the brothers prepared a remarkably detailed lot description for their May 1885 auction (lot 354). The lot was won by J.W. Scott acting as agent for James V. Dexter, a Colorado banker with interests in ranching, mining, and real estate. The winning bid was $1,000 – a stunning record price and a windfall profit for S.H. and H. Chapman. Several prominent dealers and influential collectors believed the Chapmans secretly planted the coin in Adolph Weyl's auction to disguise the coin's lack of a known provenance and, in effect, "launder" the coin prior to its upcoming appearance in the Chapman brothers' sale. Accusations that the coin was a restrike were led by Eduard Frossard and J. Colvin Randall. Eventually, Certificates of Genuineness by the Mint's A. Loudon Snowden, Jacob B. Eckfeldt, and Patterson DuBois convinced James V. Dexter to drop any legal actions against the Chapmans based on the authoritative documents provided by the Mint. Going forward, there was a clearer understanding of 1804 dollars as Class I originals or Class II or III restrikes. A thorough discussion of the Dexter dollar and the events surrounding its purchase and sale can be found in Mark Ferguson's book, The Dollar of 1804: The U.S. Mint's Hidden Secret (2014). The famed Dexter dollar has changed hands many times, including for $3,290,000 from the D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part V as PR65 PCGS.
The Parmelee Specimen
E. Harrison Sanford acquired his 1804 dollar around 1868 and kept the coin for six years, until Edward Cogan sold the Sanford Collection on November 27, 1874. Cogan's description of the 1804 dollar in lot 99 reads:
"This dollar I guarantee 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 lot sold for $700, purchased by Lorin Parmelee. Perhaps more significantly, it was the first 1804 dollar photographic illustration to appear in an auction catalog. Byron Reed once owned this coin and it is currently housed in a PR64 ICG holder at the Western Heritage Museum (now the Durham Museum).
The Cohen 1804 Dollar
Edward Cohen, an exchange banker in Richmond, Virginia is said to have purchased an 1804 dollar "over the counter" circa 1865. According to David Bowers in his 1999 treatise The Rare Silver Dollars Dated 1804 and the Exciting Adventures of Edmund Roberts, Cohen subsequently sold the coin to his uncle, Mendes I. Cohen of Baltimore, Maryland, who was an avid collector of art, coins, ancient artifacts, and other objects. The latter Cohen held the coin until 1875 when his collection was sold by Edward Cogan. Cogan's October 25-29, 1875 catalog description of Cohen's 1804 dollar notes:
"It has been more circulated than either of the two previously sold at auction and has every appearance of having been struck in the year of its date, and is guaranteed to be original."
More recently, Willis H. DuPont owned this coin until it was stolen by unknown thieves in 1967. It was later recovered in Zurich, Switzerland in 1993 and was donated to the American Numismatic Association museum.
The Mint Specimen
This final Class I 1804 dollar is an impaired proof once held in the Mint Cabinet. It now resides as part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.
One cannot help but be impressed by the pedigree of any Class I 1804 dollar, including those pieces currently enshrined in museums and permanently impounded in national collections. Only the solitary Class II Mint Cabinet example and the newly discovered James A. Stack Class III coin lack multiple ownership pedigrees. The Class II and Class III coins have also established their status as exalted numismatic treasures in recent years, as seen in the following section.
Class II and III 1804 Dollars and the 1801, 1802, and 1803 Proof Novodels
The numismatic hobby in the U.S. grew significantly during the late 1850s. The main driver for this growth was the replacement of the copper large cent with the smaller-diameter copper-nickel cent. The 1856 Flying Eagle cent was especially in demand from collectors, because it was initially struck only in small numbers for distribution to public officials.
Public demand for the 1856 small cent could not be met by the existing supply, and by the late 1850s, temptation grew for the U.S. Mint to strike additional examples for collectors from backdated dies. Rare dates of other denominations were also produced in proof format during this time (1858 to 1860), with half cents and Seated dollars, as well-known examples.
Additionally, approximately a dozen Class II 1804 dollars were struck in proof format. The coins had a plain edge, the feature that distinguishes Class II from Class III dollars. They were also struck from a different reverse die than the Class I dollars.
The obverse and reverse dies had been prepared approximately 25 years before, during the Class I production era. At that time, four obverse and two reverse Bust dollar dies were made. One obverse die was unfinished and dateless, while the other three obverse dies were dated 1802, 1803, and 1804. The reverse dies, generally known as Reverse X and Reverse Y, are most readily distinguished by the placement of the E in STATES. On Reverse X, the upright of the letter is over the left border of cloud 5. Reverse Y places the upright over the right border of cloud 4.
Reverse X was used to strike the Class I dollars, while the Class II and III 1804 dollars were struck from Reverse Y. All three classes of 1804 dollars were coined using the same obverse die. Most plain-edge Class II dollars attained Class III status years later, circa 1875, after they passed through a milling device that imparted a lettered edge.
The unofficial production of backdated numismatic delicacies by the U.S. Mint circa 1858 to 1860 is often ascribed to the desire of James Ross Snowden to improve the collection of George Washington medals within the Mint Cabinet. Snowden was U.S. Mint Director between June 1853 and May 1861, when he was succeeded in office by James Pollock, an appointee of Abraham Lincoln.
Evidence for Snowden's complicity in the 1858 to 1860 restrikes is a January 22, 1859 letter from Snowden to Secretary of the Treasury Howell Cobb. Snowden wrote:
"Sir, we are duly pressed upon, by Collectors of Coins from all parts of the Country either by letter or in person, for specimens of pattern pieces of coin, and rare types. A few of these have been in every case issued - some of them got into the hands of dealers and are sold at excessive prices. I propose with your approbation, to check this traffic, and at the same time gratify a taste which has lately increased in this country, and seems to be increasing every day, namely by striking some of each kind and affixing a price to them, so that the profits may inure to the benefit of the Mint Cabinet of Coins and ores which is the property of the United States; an exact account of which will be kept and rendered to the Department."
Snowden thus admits that the U.S. Mint under his tenure was producing numismatic rarities upon request by dealers, and sought permission from Cobb to continue this activity, even though he acknowledged the policy led to abuses.
While James Ross Snowden condoned the "restrike" misadventures of the U.S. Mint, he did not produce the coins himself. For more than a century, numismatic blame for what Walter Breen colorfully (if inaccurately) dubbed "The Midnight Mint" was directed at Theodore Eckfeldt, the son of George J. Eckfeldt, a Philadelphia Mint foreman.
In his 1988 Encyclopedia, Breen states "[Theodore] Eckfeldt had peddled plain-edge 1804 dollars" and later "acted as a distributor for the [proof] half cents and other restrikes." Breen's source was a comment by Ebenezer Locke Mason in a June 1882 issue of Mason's Coin Collector's Magazine. According to Mason, "here was offered [in 1860] by young Eckfeldt three genuine U.S. 1804 dollars at $70 each and nearly all the rare [proof restrike] half cents in dozens of duplicates were purchased."
Mason implied that the "Midnight Mint" output was coined by the elder Eckfeldt and provided to the younger Eckfeldt for sale. But Mason's information must have been hearsay, since according to Craig Sholley and John Dannreuther, "in 1859 to 1860, Mason did not reside in Philadelphia or New York or Boston, the latter two cities being where the historical records show that 1804 restrikes dollars were offered. Rather, he lived in Troy and Albany, NY from 1855 to 1866."
It is more likely that the Class II 1804 dollars (most of which later became Class III dollars) were struck by Archibald Loudon Snowden and / or Henry R. Linderman. A. Loudon Snowden, a nephew of Mint Director James Ross Snowden, was Registrar of Deposits at the Philadelphia Mint. Linderman was Chief Clerk at the same facility. Prior to their Mint employment, Linderman and the younger Snowden were neighbors in the Delaware Water Gap borough of Pennsylvania.
Both men played key roles in the circa 1858 to 1860 production of the Class II 1804 dollars and their eventual upgrade to Class III status during the mid-1870s. Sholley and Dannreuther believe that distributors of the Class III dollars, notably leading coin dealer William Idler and his son-in-law Captain John W. Haseltine, spread stories about Eckfield family complicity to steer suspicions of the unauthorized minting and sales activity away from Linderman, Snowden, and Idler.
By the early 1860s, the 1804 dollar was already a famous rarity, coveted by collectors. But after the dozen or so additional plain-edge examples were struck, their makers had a problem. Bust dollars have a lettered edge, and no device to impart edge lettering was then accessible at the Mint.
The freshly coined 1804 dollars were first offered for sale during the summer of 1860, and their plain edges made numismatists suspicious. According to William DuBois, curator of the Mint cabinet, four examples were sold before the scandal became too great for Director Snowden. He authorized one or more agents to recover the coins. Traditionally, the agent is said to be Robert Coulton Davis, a Philadelphia druggist and numismatist with Mint connections, but Sholley and Dannreuther suggest the involvement of Jeremiah Colburn and Major Charles W. Nichols.
The agent(s) managed to locate the sold coins and somehow separate them from their new owners. The novodels were returned to the U.S. Mint. There, all but one were melted. The surviving specimen, overstruck on a cut-down 1857 Bern 5 Franc piece, was retained in the Mint cabinet.
Today, it is in the Smithsonian Museum, and is the only existing Class II (plain edge) 1804 dollar, since edge lettering was later applied to the other eight 1804 dollars coined from Reverse Y dies. It is also the only known Reverse Y dollar not struck on a standard Seated dollar planchet. While numismatists cannot own a Class II 1804 dollar, a few electrotypes were made from it at the Mint and placed with collectors, including a copper specimen later listed as an 1804 dollar pattern in the 1913 Adams-Woodin pattern reference.
After the initially blundered distribution of the plain-edge 1804 dollars, the makers had seven examples remaining, which could not be sold until they received an appropriate lettered edge. This was not possible during the two tenures of the circumspect James Pollock, but in March 1873, Pollock was replaced as U.S. Mint Director by none other than Henry Linderman. By this time, A. Loudon Snowden had become Chief Coiner at the Philadelphia Mint.
It seems likely that Linderman asked or allowed Snowden to peruse the Mint inventory of old dies, and a new era of "restriking" activity began, with a focus on backdated patterns and off-metal proof sets. Relevant to our topic, Snowden managed to locate a Bust dollar edge-lettering device, sometimes referred to as a Castaing machine, from the Mint vault. He also secured four of the six Bust dollar dies: the unfinished obverse die, the 1802 and 1803 obverse dies, and the Reverse Y die. The 1804 obverse die and the Reverse X die could not be found, and presumably had been destroyed during the Pollock era.
More 1804 dollars could not be struck, but edge lettering was added circa 1875 to the seven formerly plain-edge 1804 dollars. The operator must have been inexperienced using the edge lettering device, since the lettering is blundered on observed examples. The pass through the milling device also created a slight wire rim that had to be carefully filed down to make the coins less suspicious.
Meanwhile, the unfinished obverse die received an 1801 date, along with stars and legends, all from punches noticeably different from their equivalents on the 1802 to 1804 novodels, or on Large Eagle dollars struck for circulation between 1798 and 1804. A few 1801, 1802, and 1803 dollars were struck in proof format on Trade dollar planchets, then in use and a few grains heavier than the Seated dollar planchets used to strike the Reverse Y 1804 dollars. These newly struck proof novodel Bust dollars were then passed through the edge lettering device.
The 1801, 1802, and 1803 novodel dollars are rarer than the 1804 dollars. Respectively, two, four, and four specimens are known for the 1801, 1802, and 1803 novodels. For generations, numismatists believed that only six Class III 1804 dollars survived. Then in August 2025, Stack's Bowers announced that a new specimen had emerged from its longtime residency within the collection formed by James A. Stack, Sr. The Stack specimen is certified as PR65 by PCGS, with the grade seconded by CAC via a green seal. It is the highest-graded Class III 1804 dollar, and one of three unworn specimens.
The provenance of the Stack specimen is unknown, but Stack's Bowers suggests it was initially owned by A. Loudon Snowden. Henry Linderman also had an unworn example, as did William Idler. The three men, key to the production or marketing of the Class III dollars, knew their origins. This was not the case for the eventual buyers of other four Class III specimens. Those coins were apparently briefly carried as pocket pieces to acquire light wear, which allowed them to be misleadingly offered as previously unreported circulation finds instead of their actual status as unauthorized novodel productions.
After the discovery of the Stack specimen, noted numismatic authors Craig Sholley and John Dannreuther were able to evaluate it prior to its present PCGS encapsulation. They were able to confirm that, among the surviving Reverse Y 1804 dollars, the Stack coin was the earliest produced. Notably, it was struck prior to the Class II Smithsonian specimen, which confirms that all Reverse Y 1804 dollars initially had a plain edge. The authors established an emission order for seven of the eight surviving coins based on striking definition and the extent of die rust and die lines. The emission sequence was:
1. James A. Stack, Sr. Specimen, Class III, PR65 PCGS
2. Berg Specimen, Class III, PR55 PCGS
3. Ellsworth-ANS Specimen, Class III, PR45 estimated grade
4. Idler-ANA Specimen, Class III, PR62 to PR63 estimated grade
5. Adams-Carter Specimen (the present coin), Class III, PR58 PCGS
6. Mint Cabinet-Smithsonian Specimen, Class II, PR63 to PR64 estimated grade
7. Linderman-Smithsonian Specimen, Class III, PR63 to PR64 estimated grade
Note: It was not possible to determine the Class III Davis Specimen's spot in the emission sequence because the available photographs of the coin are of poor quality and are not adequate for die state research.
The coin offered here, the Adams-Carter Specimen, was struck fairly late in the emission sequence, but it has an illustrious pedigree and has been a highlight of many famous collections, as documented in the following section.
The Adams-Carter Class III Specimen
"Since 1921, when I had the distinctive privilege of offering at auction the famed James H. Manning Collection of Albany, N. Y., in which a specimen of the 1804 Dollar was sold, I have had the pleasure of offering and selling no less than six of the thirteen specimens known of both varieties of this famed coin. This includes the two specimens in the U. S. Mint collection and three in other museums. It is very interesting to observe that each time one of these great coins were offered it always brought an advanced or higher price. A specimen of this second type of this Dollar, offered in my Sale of the Atwater Collection in 1946, brought $2,875.00. The very next year, in 1947, the same coin was offered in my Sale of the Neil collection and it brought $3,125.00. But aside from its very evident profitable investment possibilities, it also offered what many collectors appreciate most, the thrill and the gratifying source of possession the ownership of an 1804 Dollar provides." -- B. Max Mehl, May 1950, in his description of the Adams-Carter Class III 1804 dollar
Several of the Class III 1804 dollars are among the most famous of all 1804 dollars and represent several of the museum pieces known today. Among the most notable is the famous DuPont coin, stolen in 1967 from the DuPont family estate by a band of lucky thieves, later recovered in the early 1980s and subsequently donated to the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Another, the Idler coin, last appeared at auction in 1985 and was subsequently donated the ANA. The Ellsworth coin famously passed through numerous collections without ever appearing at public auction and now resides in the ANS. And, of course, the James A. Stack, Sr. coin will enjoy prominent status due to its grade and recent discovery, once again drawing the eyes of even casual collectors to the lore and intrigue of the "King of American Coins."
But the Adams-Carter specimen is arguably the most prominent fixture among the Class III coins, boasting one of the longest provenances of any specimen and ranking for many decades as the finest Class III still held in private hands. This was the 1804 dollar owned by many of the most prominent collectors throughout history, and the next numismatist to add their name to its provenance will hold a unique place in numismatic history.
Like all Class III coins, its history began with concocted stories about a traditional origin meant to veil its late-1850s coinage. But the story would transform into the life of a coin coveted by generations of collectors and held in the highest regard as one of the United States' greatest coins.
The Beginning - Captain John W. Haseltine
The long provenance of the Adams-Carter specimen of the 1804 Class III silver dollar dates to 1876 when Captain John W. Haseltine first displayed the coin. A well-known coin dealer of his time, Haseltine, who was born in Philadelphia on September 6, 1838, served as a captain in the Civil War with the second regiment of the Pennsylvania Cavalry. He saw action at Bull Run, Gettysburg, Gains Mills, and Deep Bottom during the siege of Richmond, where he was critically wounded.
In 1869 Haseltine married Rose Idler, the daughter of William Idler. A member of Grand Army of the Republic Post 2 and also a Mason, Haseltine was closely acquainted with Oliver Bosbyshell, the U.S. Mint coiner. Haseltine concocted various "special provenances" for many of the rarities that he handled, when they actually came from the Mint. When he showed the "newly discovered" 1804 silver dollar, Haseltine reported that it came from a private English source. He eventually sold the coin to Phineas Adams.
Phineas Adams
A Manchester, New Hampshire, collector, Adams owned this 1804 dollar from 1876 until about 1880. According to the 1880 Federal Census, a father and son, both named Phineas Adams, lived in Manchester. The father was born in Massachusetts about 1815 and was an agent for a cotton mill. Also born in Massachusetts about 1845, the younger Adams was listed as a cotton broker. One of the Adamses sold the 1804 dollar to Henry Ahlborn.
Henry Ahlborn
Ahlborn was a Boston-area coin dealer who published coin premium lists. He was born in Germany in 1832 and immigrated in 1850. Listed as a coin dealer in the 1900 Federal Census, he lived in Malden, Massachusetts. His business location was 31 Exchange Street in Boston. Ahlborn soon placed the coin with Boston collector John P. Lyman.
John Pickering Lyman
Lyman was a director and president of The National Webster Bank of Boston, later known as the Webster and Atlas National Bank of Boston. He was also a director of the Collateral Loan Company, a trustee of the Suffolk Savings Bank for Seamen, and a member of the Union Club. An 1868 Harvard graduate, Lyman, who was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on February 18, 1847, was the son of the elder John Pickering Lyman and Mary Rantoul Peabody. His sister and sole surviving relative at the time of his death lived at the family homestead in New Hampshire. On November 7, 1913, Samuel Hudson Chapman sold the Lyman Collection. S.H. Chapman wrote extensively in the Lyman catalog about the evolving knowledge of 1804 dollars at the time, but one line in particular embodied the fame that these coins -- and especially the Lyman piece -- had already by that time developed: "The great rarity of this dollar known early in the history of collection in the United States, attracted attention to it and it became the most desired coin in the national series." The buyer of the Lyman 1804 dollar was Waldo Newcomer.
Waldo Charles Newcomer
Newcomer displayed his prize at the 1914 American Numismatic Society meeting. A banker in Baltimore, Newcomer was also a director for "numerous railroads, utilities, and other corporations," according to the obituary in the September 1934 issue of The Numismatist. Newcomer was born in Maryland on September 14, 1867, and died on July 29, 1934. He did well in business, although reports suggest that he lost nearly everything in the 1929 stock market crash and following Great Depression. Walter Breen claimed that he committed suicide, although The Numismatist obituary states that he died of heart disease. Newcomer allowed B. Max Mehl to handle his 1804 dollar on consignment in 1932, and Mehl sold it to Col. E.H.R. Green.
Edward Howland Robinson Green
Green was no stranger to numismatics or philately. The son of Hetty Green, the "Witch of Wall Street," he dabbled in many fields. The 1804 silver dollar was a prize of his coin collection. He also owned all five 1913 nickels, and at one time he owned the entire sheet of the famous "Inverted Jenny" airmail stamp. After Green's death in 1936, Chase National Bank handled his collection. Several years later, in 1943, the 1804 dollar was sold to A.J. Allen of Plainfield, New Jersey.
A.J. Allen
Little is known about Allen, although a 1938-39 Plainfield city directory lists Albert J. Allen as a broker. The 1920 Federal Census lists Albert J. Allen, born in Maine circa 1882, and his son, also Albert J. Allen, born in New Jersey about 1913, both living in Plainfield. F.C.C. Boyd acquired this piece from Allen, either directly or indirectly, in 1946.
Frederick C.C. Boyd
Boyd was born on April 10, 1886, in New York City and died on September 7, 1958. He began collecting at age 12 or 13 and continued for the rest of his life. Boyd held a variety of positions before retiring in 1946 as vice president of the Union News Company. Since he bought the 1804 dollar in that same year, perhaps it was a retirement present for himself. Boyd also served on the boards of the National Recovery Administration during and after the Great Depression and the Office of Price Administration during World War II. Boyd apparently sold his 1804 dollar a short time later to Percy A. Smith via Numismatic Gallery, but not as part of the World's Greatest Collection sales, which were held beforehand.
Percy Arnold Smith
Smith, of Portland, Oregon, was born there about 1884, and he was the president and general manager of the West-Made Desk Company. He displayed the 1804 dollar in September 1946 at a meeting of the Oregon Numismatic Society. Late in 1949, Smith sold the coin to B. Max Mehl. Fort Worth coin dealer Mehl, a tireless promoter of the coin hobby throughout the first half of the 20th century, included the coin in his May 1950 Golden Jubilee Sale, featuring the Jerome Kern Collection and other properties. There, Mehl wrote of the 1804 dollar as a whole: "The most famous of all American coins and probably the most famous coin in the world. This coin has been recognized for more than one hundred years as our greatest numismatic rarity." The buyer was Amon G. Carter, Sr., who paid $3,250 for it.
Amon G. Carter, Sr.
Fort Worth, Texas, newspaperman Amon G. Carter, Sr., was born in Wise County, Texas, on December 11, 1879. As a teenager, he worked in a boarding house, waiting tables and washing dishes. He also sold sandwiches to passengers at the train station in Bowie, Texas, about 90 miles northwest of Fort Worth. His newspaper career began in the advertising field, and by age 44 he was president and publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A couple of years later he acquired a morning newspaper, the Forth Worth Record, from William Randolph Hearst.
Amon G. Carter, Sr. became synonymous with Fort Worth. His corporation, Carter Publications, Inc., was the owner of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, WBAP radio, and the local NBC affiliate television station. The Amon G. Carter Foundation comments: "Fort Worth and much of West Texas depended on Carter Publications every day for their news and information. Thousands more had Mr. Carter to thank for their employment." Carter was also involved in the oil business and was a director of Aviation Corporation, later known as American Airlines. According to the foundation that bears his name: "Amon Carter was a tireless promoter of Fort Worth and played a major role in its development. He left many marks on his community and a legacy which continues to reflect his ideals." Amon Carter was also a numismatist, and he acquired his 1804 silver dollar in 1950. His death came five years later.
The Amon G. Carter Foundation (www.agcf.org http://www.agcf.org/ ) was established in 1945 and continues to play an important role in local projects. By the end of 2024, the organization had made charitable gifts in excess of $860 million.
Amon G. Carter, Jr.
Amon G. Carter, Jr. was born in Fort Worth on December 23, 1919, and died in Dallas on July 24, 1982. He served in World War II with the Army Field Artillery in Northern Africa and was a German prisoner of war. Considered a shy man, Amon Carter, Jr., carried on his father's business interests as publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and as a director of American Airlines. He was instrumental in moving the airline's headquarters from New York to Fort Worth. Carter also carried on his father's philanthropic and numismatic tradition.
Later Curators
After the death of Amon G. Carter, Jr., the Carter family consigned the collection to Stack's, which presented it for sale as part of a January 1984 auction. At the sale, John Nelson Rowe, III, was the high bidder, acting on behalf of L.R. French, Jr., a Texas numismatist from Midland County, halfway between Fort Worth and El Paso. The French Collection was sold in January 1989, with Stack's conducting the auction.
Once the French auction had concluded, several dealer intermediaries including our firm handled the coin, including four years in an unidentified Midwestern collection. In 1998 Laura Sperber and her firm, Legend Numismatics, Inc., placed the Adams-Carter specimen with Phillip Flannagan, an Ohio businessman. Flannagan sold the dollar and the rest of his early collection to raise funds for a Christian school and youth camp near his home. Several more dealer intermediaries handled the Adams-Carter 1804 silver dollar prior to its acquisition by the collector who consigned it to Heritage's 2009 Central States Signature auction, where John Albanese was the high bidder at $2.3 million. The famed coin -- perhaps the most famous of the Class III 1804 dollars -- came to its present consignor via private treaty.
Physical Description
The Adams-Carter specimen was struck as a proof, as were all 1804 silver dollars. Like some other Class III coins, it was artificially worn to resemble a circulated piece, in this case very lightly so, such that no loss of detail occurred and only the mint surface was patinated. Soft and satiny luster on gunmetal-gray patina complements subtle hues of lavender, tan-gold and emerald bordering the devices and in the margins. Mentionable abrasions are nonexistent. The fields exhibit subtle reflectivity, as glimpses of mirrored silver still appear during rotation.
The devices are generally well-struck with sharp definition on the obverse stars and legends, although the reverse shows central softness on the eagle, the stars and the shield, a characteristic shared to a certain degree by a few of the other Class III coins. Faint planchet laminations in the fields above and to the right of Liberty, as well as one in her hair are additional strike characteristics. Additionally, faint adjustment marks show on her lower hair curls and drapery. On the reverse, doubling from a double strike is seen on STATES OF AMERICA and the denticles above it, as well as on the right-side stars, the eagle's right (facing) wing and the olive branch. All the Class III coins exhibit some element of double striking on the reverse, but the feature is most prominent on the Adams-Carter piece. In a way, of the Class III coins intended to pass as original 1804 strikings, the Adams-Carter coin presents the intended effect best. Overall eye appeal is outstanding, with a colorful and graceful cartwheel effect.
Roster of 1804 Dollars
The 16 known 1804 silver dollars include eight examples of Class I, one of Class II, and seven of Class III. There are six 1804 silver dollars in museums and ten in private hands. This roster updates the historical record from the Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 6/2018), lot 4003, with important contributions from John Dannreuther and Saul Teichman.
Class I - The Diplomatic Presentation Strikings
1. Sultan of Muscat Specimen
PR68 PCGS. Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt; U.S. Department of State, c/o Edmund Roberts; Sayyid Sa'id-bin-Sultan (Sultan of Muscat), as part of a cased presentation set; unknown intermediaries; Charles A. Watters of Liverpool, England; Watters Collection (Glendining & Co., London, 5/1917), lot 227, realized £330; Henry Chapman (6/1918); Virgil Brand; Brand Estate; Armin W. Brand; Horace Louis Philip Brand; Ruth and Charles Green; Charles Frederick Childs; F. Newell Childs; Charles Frederick Childs II; Walter H. Childs; Childs Collection (Bowers and Merena, 8/1999), lot 458, realized $4,140,000; Mack and Brent Pogue; D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part IV (Stack's Bowers/Sotheby's, 5/2016), lot 4020, failed to meet the reserve, bought in for a hammer price of $9,200,000; ANA Rarities Night Auction (Stack's Bowers, 8/2021), lot 4114, realized $7,680,000; Elite Collection.
2. King of Siam Specimen
PR67 PCGS. Part of the King of Siam cased presentation set. Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt; U.S. Department of State, c/o Edmund Roberts; King Ph'ra Nang Klao (Rama III) of Siam; presumed remaining in the family until about 1950; David F. Spink and family, who acquired the set privately; published in The Fantastic 1804 Dollar, by Eric P. Newman and Ken Bressett in 1962; private collector, possibly Elvin I. Unterman, via agent Lester Merkin; King of Siam Sale (Bowers and Merena, 10/1987), lot 2209, not sold; Rarities Group (Martin Paul) and Continental Rarity Coin Fund I (Greg Holloway); Father Flanagan's Boy's Home Sale (Superior, 5/1990), lot 3364, realized $3,190,000 for the entire King of Siam set; Iraj Sayah and Terry Brand; January-February Auction (Superior, 1/1993), lot 1196; Spectrum Numismatics; sold to a private western collector in 2001via Spectrum Numismatics and Mike's Coin Chest for a price reported to be in excess of $4,140,000; unknown intermediary (privately, 11/2005) to Steve Contursi of Rare Coin Wholesalers for a reported $8,500,000; Tyrant Collection.
Note: many researchers have speculated that this coin may have passed to Mrs. Anna Leonowens, of The King and I musical fame, sometime in the 19th century. David Spink purchased the coin from two elderly ladies in England who were reported to be her descendants. This connection, while theoretically possible, is regarded as highly conjectural today.
3. Stickney Specimen
PR65 PCGS. Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt; William E. DuBois; Matthew Adams Stickney (purchased May 9, 1843, mailed to him on July 12); Stickney Collection (Henry Chapman, 6/1907), lot 849, realized $3,600; Col. James W. Ellsworth; Wayte Raymond; William Cutler Atwater; Atwater Estate; Atwater Collection (B. Max Mehl, 6/1946), lot 213, realized $10,500; Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr.; Eliasberg Estate; Eliasberg Collection (Bowers and Merena, 4/1997), lot 2199, realized $1,815,000; Spectrum Numismatics; Larry H. Miller Collection (Stack's Bowers, 12/2020), lot 1094, realized $3,360,000.
4. Dexter Specimen
PR65 PCGS. Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt; unknown intermediaries; 46th Auction (Adolph Weyl, 10/1884), lot 159, realized $216; S.H. and H. Chapman; Chapman Sale (Chapman Brothers,5/1885), lot 354, realized $1,000; Scott Stamp & Coin Company; James Vila Dexter; Dexter Estate; Roland G. Parvin (Dexter's son-in-law and executor of the estate) sold privately in 11/1902 for $2,000; H.G. Brown; H.G. Brown Collection (Lyman H. Low, 10/1904), lot 431, realized $1,100; William Forrester Dunham; B. Max Mehl; Dunham Collection (B. Max Mehl, 6/1941), lot 1058, realized $4,250; Charles M. Williams; Abe Kosoff and Sol Kaplan; Harold Bareford; Bareford Collection (Stack's, 10/1981), lot 424, realized $280,000; RARCOA (Ed Milas); Leon Hendrickson and George Weingart; Auction '89 (RARCOA, 7/1989), lot 247, realized $990,000; American Rare Coin Fund, Ltd. (Hugh Sconyers, manager); Northern California collector; Baltimore Auction (Superior, 7/1993), lot 551, not sold; Northern California collector; U.S. Coin Auction (Superior, 5/1994), lot 761; Harlan White; private southeastern collection; 65th Anniversary Collection (Stack's, 10/2000), lot 1167, realized $1,840,000; Mack and Brent Pogue; D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part V (Stack's Bowers, 3/2017), lot 5045, realized $3,290,000, to Kevin Lipton and John Albanese; Bruce Morelan through Legend Numismatics on 4/2/2017; Regency Auction 41/Bruce Morelan Collection (Legend Rare Coins Auction, 10/2020), lot 25.
5. Parmelee Specimen
PR64 ICG. Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt; unknown intermediaries; "an aged lady" who gave the coin to her son; E. Harrison Sanford; Sanford Collection (Edward Cogan, 11/1874), lot 99, realized $700; Lorin G. Parmelee; Parmelee Collection (New York Coin & Stamp Co., 6/1890), lot 817, realized $570; Byron Reed; Omaha City Library; Western Heritage Museum (now the Durham Museum).
6. Mickley Specimen
PR62 PCGS. Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt; unknown intermediaries; Henry C. Young, a teller at the Bank of Pennsylvania; Joseph J. Mickley (October, 1847); Mickley Collection (W. Elliot Woodward, 10/1867), lot 1676, realized $750; William A. Lilliendahl; Edward Cogan (1868); William Sumner Appleton (1868); Massachusetts Historical Society (1905); Massachusetts Historical Society-Maryland Collector Auction (Stack's, 10/1970), lot 625, realized $77,500; Chicago collection; Reed Hawn, in a private treaty transaction via Stack's in 1974; Hawn Collection (Stack's, 10/1993), lot 735, realized $475,000; David Queller; Queller Family Collection (Heritage, 4/2008), lot 2089, realized $3,737,500; Chicago Signature/Greensboro Collection, Part IV (Heritage, 8/2013), lot 5699, realized $3,877,500; Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 6/2018), lot 4003, realized $2,640,000; D.L. Hansen.
7. Mint Cabinet Specimen
Impaired Proof, per conventional wisdom. Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt; Mint Cabinet; National Numismatic Collection; Smithsonian Institution.
8. Cohen Specimen
PR30. Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt; unknown intermediaries; Edward Cohen, Richmond, Virginia; Col. Mendes I. Cohen, Baltimore, Maryland; Cohen Collection (Edward Cogan, 10/1875), lot 535, realized $325; Henry S. Adams; Adams Collection (Edward Cogan, 11/1876), lot 356, realized $500; Lorin G. Parmelee; Henry G. Sampson; Major William Boerum Wetmore; Wetmore Collection (Chapman Brothers, 6/1906), lot 208, realized $720; S.H. and H. Chapman; Thomas L. Elder; James H. Manning; Manning Collection (B. Max Mehl, 5/1921), lot 778, realized $2,500; Elmer S. Sears; B. Max Mehl; Lammot DuPont; Willis H. DuPont; unknown thieves, recovered in Zurich, Switzerland, on April 23, 1993; donated to the American Numismatic Association museum.
Class II Example
9. Mint Cabinet Specimen
PR63 to PR64 (estimated grade by John Dannreuther and Craig Sholley). National Numismatic Collection; Smithsonian Institution. Struck over an 1857 Bern, Switzerland, 5 Franc piece.
Class III Examples
10. James A. Stack, Sr. Specimen
PR65 PCGS. CAC. Possibly Chief Coiner Archibald Louden Snowden; unknown intermediaries; James A. Stack, Sr., before 1951; Stack Estate; displayed at the American Numismatic Associations World's Fair of Money in August 2025; James A. Stack, Sr. Collection, Part I (Stack's Bowers, 12/2025), lot 20006.
11. Linderman Specimen
PR63 to PR64 (estimated grade by John Dannreuther and Craig Sholley). Mint Director Henry R. Linderman; Linderman Estate; Linderman Collection (Lyman H. Low, 6/1887), lot 40, not sold; Linderman Collection (J.W. Scott, 2/1888), lot 40, realized $470; James Ten Eyck; Ten Eyck Estate; Ten Eyck Collection (B. Max Mehl, 5/1922), lot 394, realized $840; Lammot DuPont; Willis H. DuPont; unknown thieves; recovered March 16, 1982; loaned to American Numismatic Association; donated to the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.
12. Idler Specimen
PR62 to PR63 (estimated grade by John Dannreuther and Craig Sholley). Philadelphia Mint; William K. Idler; Captain John W. Haseltine; Stephen K. Nagy; Henry O. Granberg; William Cutler Atwater; Atwater Estate; Atwater Collection (B. Max Mehl, 6/1946), lot 214, realized $2,875; Will W. Neil; Neil Collection (B. Max Mehl, 6/1947), lot 31, realized $3,125; Edwin Hydeman; Hydeman Collection (Abe Kosoff, 3/1961), lot 994, reportedly sold for $29,000, actually bought in; Edwin Hydeman; World-Wide Coin Investments, Ltd. (John Hamrick and Warren Tucker); Bowers and Ruddy Galleries; Continental Coin Galleries; Mark Blackburn; Larry Demerer; Dr. Jerry Buss, via Superior Galleries; Buss Collection (Superior Galleries, 1/1985), lot 1337, realized $308,000; Aubrey and Adeline Bebee; donated to the American Numismatic Association.
13. Adams-Carter Specimen.
PR58 PCGS. Philadelphia Mint; Captain John W. Haseltine; Phineas Adams; Henry Ahlborn; John P. Lyman; Lyman Collection (S.H. Chapman, 11/1913), lot 16,realized $340; Waldo C. Newcomer; Col. Edward H.R. Green; Col. Green Estate; A.J. Allen; Frederick C.C. Boyd; Percy A. Smith; B. Max Mehl; Golden Jubilee Sale (B. Max Mehl, 5/1950), lot 804, realized $3,250; Amon G. Carter, Sr.; Amon G. Carter, Jr.; Carter Estate; Carter Collection (Stack's, 1/1984), lot 241, realized $198,000; John Nelson Rowe, III; L.R. French, Jr.; French Estate; French Collection (Stack's, 1/1989), lot 15, realized $242,000; Rarities Group (Martin Paul); National Gold Exchange (Mark Yaffe); Heritage Rare Coin Galleries; Indianapolis Collection; unknown private collection; David Liljestrand; unknown Midwest collection; David Liljestrand; National Gold Exchange and Kenneth Goldman; Legend Numismatics; Phillip Flannagan; Flannagan Collection (Bowers and Merena, 11/2001), lot 4303, realized $874,000; Donald H. Kagin, Ph.D.; Baltimore ANA Auction (Bowers and Merena, 8/2003), lot 2026, realized $1,207,500; West Coast collector, via Kevin Lipton; Heritage Rare Coin Galleries; East Coast collector in March 2006; The Joseph C. Thomas Collection / Central States Signature (Heritage, 4/2009), lot 2567, realized $2,300,000, to John Albanese; the present consignor via private treaty. The present coin.
14. Berg Specimen
PR55 PCGS. Philadelphia Mint; possibly (but doubtful) Koch & Co., Vienna; Captain John W. Haseltine who displayed the coin at Edward Cogan's Jewett Sale in January 1876, along with a set of 1801, 1802, and 1803 proof novodels, claiming the coins came from a collection in England; Centennial Sale, Part I (John W. Haseltine, 3/1876), lot 194, realized $395; O.H. Berg; Berg Collection (John W. Haseltine, 5/1883), lot 568, realized $740; George W. Cogan; Thomas Harrison Garrett; Garrett Estate; Robert Garrett; John Work Garrett; Johns Hopkins University; Garrett Collection, Part II (Bowers and Ruddy, 3/1980), lot 698, realized $400,000; Pullen & Hanks, later with Sam Colavita; Public Auction (Pullen & Hanks, 2/1982), lot 1076, realized $190,000; Sam Colavita; Mike Levinson, in trade for eight acres of land in El Paso, Texas; Pennsylvania private collection; Harry Einstein Collection (Bowers and Merena, 6/1986), lot 1736, realized $187,000; Rarities Group (Martin Paul); American Coin Portfolios (Dan Drykerman); Laura Sommer; Chicago ANA Convention Auction (Stack's Bowers, 8/2014), lot 13146; realized $1,880,000.
15. Davis Specimen
PR40. Philadelphia Mint; probably, Captain John W. Haseltine; Robert Coulton Davis; John W. Haseltine; George M. Klein; Vicksburg Collection, Part I (W. Elliot Woodward, 5/1888), lot 1940, realized $660; Robert Coulton Davis, via J. Colvin Randall; Davis Estate; John W. Haseltine; John M. Hale; Hale Estate; R.H. Mull; Public Auction (Parke-Bernet Galleries, 5/1950), lot 221, realized $3,400; Mrs. Fullerton, daughter of H.P. Graves, purchased for her father; Henry P. Graves; Graves Estate; Davis-Graves Collection, Part I (Stack's, 4/1954), lot 1333, realized $8,000; Ben H. Koenig; Fairbanks Collection (Stack's, 12/1960), lot 576, realized $28,000; Samuel Wolfson; Wolfson Collection, Part II (Stack's, 5/1963), lot 1394, realized $36,000; Norton Simon; James H.T. McConnell, Jr., via Stack's.
16. Ellsworth Specimen, a.k.a. Driefus-Rosenthal Specimen
PR45 (estimated grade by John Dannreuther and Craig Sholley).
Philadelphia Mint; unknown intermediaries; W. Julius Driefus; Isaac Rosenthal; Col. James W. Ellsworth; Wayte Raymond; Farran Zerbe, via Guttag Brothers; Chase National Bank Collection (later the Chase Manhattan Bank Money Museum); American Numismatic Society.
Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 24XJ, PCGS# 6908, Greysheet# 7184)
Weight: 26.96 grams
Metal: 89.24% Silver, 10.76% Copper
Auction Info
2026 January 14 - 18 FUN US Coins Signature® Auction #1390 (go to Auction Home page)
Bidding Begins Approx.
December
26th
Friday
Auction Dates
January
14th-18th
Wednesday-Sunday
Proxy Bidding Begins Approx.
16 Days
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Signature® Floor Sessions
Proxy bidding ends ten minutes prior to the session start time. Live Proxy bidding on Heritage Live now starts within 2 hours of when the auction opens for proxy bidding and continues through the live session. During the live auction event, bidding in person is encouraged, and Heritage Live includes streaming audio and often video during the event.
Signature®: Heritage Live®:After Internet bidding closes, live bidding will take place through www.HA.com/Live. Your secret maximum bid placed prior to the live event will compete against the live bids. To maximize your chances of winning, enter realistic secret maximum bids on our site. Many of our proxy bidders are successful at winning lots in these auctions, and usually below their secret maximum. You can also place last minute bids directly with us by e-mailing Bid@HA.com or calling 1-866-835-3243. (Important note: Due to software and Internet latency, live bids may not register in time, so enter realistic proxy bids.)
Signature® Floor Sessions
Proxy bidding ends ten minutes prior to the session start time. Live Proxy bidding on Heritage Live now starts within 2 hours of when the auction opens for proxy bidding and continues through the live session. During the live auction event, bidding in person is encouraged, and Heritage Live includes streaming audio and often video during the event.
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