Previously Unknown 1804 Dollar Sells for $6 Million at Stack’s Bowers Auction

Many Questions About 1804 Dollars Remain Unanswered as a Previously Unknown Example Comes to Market

By Mark Ferguson, Professional Numismatist

On Tuesday, December 9th, 2025, Stack’s Bowers Galleries auctioned a previously unknown 1804 silver dollar, the 16th example now known.

Appearing in Session I of the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection (no relation to the auction firm), the coin sold for an astounding $6 Million (including the Buyer’s Premium)

I was able to examine this coin in person, with a loupe, at the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in Oklahoma City in August. Immediately, I was stunned by the coin’s remarkably strong strike all around.

Some 1804 dollars have weak areas here and there, such as in the hair, stars, or eagle’s feathers. Additionally, the piece’s surfaces appear natural and mark-free, save for a few minor hairlines. In contrast, several 1804 dollars have been cleaned.

I’ve been studying 1804-dated silver dollars since 1989 when I acquired James V. Dexter’s unique commemorative work of art, The Dollar of 1804, that he personally commissioned in 1887 to celebrate his 1804 dollar.

After researching the Dexter Dollar for 25 years, I wrote and published the book, The Dollar of 1804: The U.S. Mint’s Hidden Secret and I’ve built a large collection of memorabilia, numismatic literature, and artworks surrounding the Dexter Dollar and 1804 dollars in general that was the marquee exhibit at the 2024 World’s Fair of Money.

Along the way, I’ve made several important discoveries about 1804 dollars and have had the immense pleasure of holding and examining, in the “raw,” the Dexter Dollar and the PCGS Proof 68 Sultan of Muscat coin, the highest-graded example of them all. Thank you, Brent Pogue!

Stop the Presses!

Recently, CoinWeek called me to get my opinion on the newly discovered 1804 dollar, the James A. Stack, Sr. coin. My immediate reaction was, “I’m not entirely surprised.”

But in 1962, the last time a newly discovered 1804 dollar was announced – the King of Siam coin – the numismatic community was stunned. So much so that after the announcement and presentation, Ken Bressett, co-author of the book, The Fantastic 1804 Dollar, ran to a phone and called Whitman Publishing in Racine, Wisconsin exclaiming, “Stop the presses!”

The book, co-authored with Eric Newman, contained a chapter titled “The Diplomatic Gift Delusion.” According to the Afterword in The Fantastic 1804 Dollar Tribute Edition, “Newman and Bressett were convinced that the coins, though dated 1804, were not from that year. After months of careful research, by the time The Fantastic 1804 Dollar went to press in August 1962, they were equally convinced that the ‘diplomatic presentation set’ theory was a dead end – that the coins were not struck as gifts to accompany foreign trade-and-amity missions.”

Imagine the authors’ shock when researcher James C. Risk and coin dealer David J. Spink of London announced the existence of the King of Siam Diplomatic Proof Set while displaying the actual set at the same 1962 convention in which The Fantastic 1804 Dollar book was to make its debut!

Promptly, they rewrote the aforementioned chapter, renaming it “The Diplomatic Gift Background.” A few months later, they published a corrected version of the book, releasing only about two dozen bound “page proofs” of the first version, according to Ken Bressett.

Spink purchased the proof set from “two elderly ladies believed to have been descendants of Anna Leonowens, the teacher of the king’s [King of Siam] wives and children,” according to the tribute edition. The paragraph continues, “Here was physical evidence that Newman and Bressett had lacked in their thorough search of Mint records, State Department letters, and other historical archives. This evidence immediately rendered their book – in the process of being printed, 350 miles away – obsolete.”

Most Unanswered 1804 Dollar Questions Involve Provenance

And that’s where most unanswered questions about 1804 dollars originate – with their provenance.

In their catalog description of the Stack 1804 dollar, the auction firm wrote, “This coin has never before appeared at auction. That a coin as famous and valuable as this has no documented provenance before Mr. Stack has puzzled some people. Of course, it’s been in the James A. Stack Collection for no less than 75 years. Prior to that, Stack acquired the coin privately, likely from one of the major coin dealers with whom he did business.”

The catalog description states, “James A. Stack collected in earnest from the late 1930s until his death in 1951.” It ends with, “We know no provenance for this coin before it was acquired by James A. Stack. We have no documents, and we’ve heard no rumors. But only one provenance makes any sense at all.” According to the catalog, “The conclusion is simple to draw.”

The firm concludes that the Stack 1804 dollar is believed to be an example personally obtained and kept by a top Mint official. One clue is that the coin is one of three 1804 dollars with the second reverse that have never received “artificial aging” like those that were sold privately by Mint employees. That conclusion makes sense to me.

A similar provenance question remains unanswered for the Dexter 1804 dollar. The numismatic community initially became aware of what’s now known as the Dexter Dollar in 1884 when a photo of it appeared on the cover of coin dealer Adolph Weyl’s German auction catalog.

The burning question remains, what’s the provenance of that 1804 dollar and how did it get to Germany? Adding to the mystery is the fact that the photograph on the cover of the catalog is that of a plaster cast of the coin.

That photographic technique was frequently used during those days because a proof 1804 dollar would have been highly reflective, thus difficult to photograph.

The 1962 Newman-Bressett book explained it this way, “The real truth about the mix-up of the photographs can be reconstructed with a little imagination. The Chapmans needed a foreign source for a newly acquired 1804 dollar to aid its legitimacy, for the initial appearance of one in Philadelphia would further embarrass Mint officers and would detract from its selling price. It could be sent to a foreign dealer for pretended inclusion in an auction and bought back by the owner. It would then have a fancy foreign pedigree.

Electrotypes of the Idler 1804 dollar with Reverse Y had been made in or just prior to 1875 and were available. Weyl took the picture of the electrotype for his catalogue. Imagine the Chapmans buying a ‘rare’ coin of this nature without seeing it in Europe or having it sent to America before the sale. They merely gave Weyl authority to top the highest bid. The worst that could happen would be that a high artificial price would be established. The Chapmans wanted the prestige of auctioning the coin at a later date themselves.”

We all believed that tale because it was published by two famous authors and numismatists of high regard. But they got it wrong!

While I was finishing my research for my book in 2013, I learned that the American Numismatic Society in New York City possessed four bound “letterpress copy books” of the Chapman brothers’ correspondence.

I took a flyer and went to the ANS to page through those books. They were exact copies of the Chapman brothers’ letters created by placing onion skin paper underneath the Chapman letterhead paper so that the ink from the handwritten letters transferred to the paper beneath, exactly as it was written.

Shortly after ANS librarian David Hill brought the letterpress copy books out of storage, I observed that the Chapmans’ correspondence was bound in chronological order by date. I simply went to the date range before and after the Weyl auction and bingo!

I discovered several letters between September 1884 and February 1885 written by the Chapmans to Weyl.

In the first letter, the Chapmans sent bids on several coins in the Weyl auction. The next few letters discussed payment for the lots they won and shipping of the coins. The last letter, in February 1885, notified Weyl that they had received the coins.

I include this story because it illustrates that 128 years had passed since the final Chapman to Weyl letter was written and my discovery.

In 1962, when the King of Siam 1804 dollar and presentation set came to light, 127 years had passed since the set was presented to the King.

Now, with the discovery of the James A. Stack 1804 dollar, no less than 75 years had passed since Stack acquired the coin.

Research Yields Answers

I’ve maintained for years that there will be many more discoveries about 1804 dollars that will come to light in the future. I think much of it will be found in correspondence between individuals.

My book, The Dollar of 1804: The U.S. Mint’s Hidden Secret, contains a list showing the “Order of Discovery by Collectors of All Known 1804 Dollars.”

The list designates the “Class” of 1804 dollar each specimen belongs to. Newman and Bressett developed these classes to group the coins’ periods of manufacture and their identifying characteristics.

Those 1804 dollars in Class I designate the original striking in the 1834-1835 period using the first reverse die. The obverse die was used again in the 1858-1860 period to make several restrikes but a different reverse die was used in which some of the devices differed ever so slightly in position from the die used for the original striking of 1804 dollars.

The unique Class II example has a plain edge while all the others have lettered edges. The Class II example and all the Class III examples were struck using the second reverse die.

The list began in 1842, when collector Matthew A. Stickney of Salem, Massachusetts obtained an 1804 dollar directly from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, stopping in 1962 when the King of Siam coin surfaced.

Of course, an updated list would have to be extended to 2025 when the Stack coin came to light. That’s a span of 183 years over which a total of sixteen 1804-dated silver dollars have been discovered!

Here’s the list:

• 1842 U.S. Mint Specimen – Class: I  -Discovered by illustration in U.S. Mint book
• 1843 Stickney Specimen – Class: I  -Obtained by collector Matthew A. Stickney from U.S. Mint
• 1847 Mickley Specimen – Class: I – Obtained by collector Joseph J. Mickley from a bank teller
• 1865 Cohen Specimen – Class: I – Obtained at the Edward Cohen exchange in Richmond, VA
• 1868 Parmalee Specimen – Class: I – Purchased by collector E. Harrison Sanford from a “lady”
• 1876 Adams Specimen – Class: III – Purchased by collector Phineas Adams from J. W. Haseltine
• 1876 Berg Specimen – Class: III – Purchased by collector O.H. Berg from John W. Haseltine
• 1877 Davis Specimen – Class: III – Purchased by Robert Coulton Davis from John W. Haseltine
• 1878 U.S. Mint Plain Edge – Class: II Unique – Revealed in American Journal of Numismatics
• 1884 Dexter Specimen – Class: I  – Adolph Weyl auction conducted in Berlin, Germany
• 1887 Linderman Specimen – Class: III – Lyman Low sale from Mint Director Linderman Collection
• 1893 Rosenthal Specimen – Class: III – Supposedly obtained from a former slave

• 1908 Idler Specimen – Class: III – Purchased by collector H.O. Granberg from Idler-Haseltine
• 1917 Sultan of Muscat Spec. – Class: I – Auctioned by Glendining & Co. from Watters Collection
• 1962 King of Siam Specimen – Class: I Descendents of Anna Leonowens teacher of King’s children
• 2025 Stack Specimen – Class: III Sold by Stack’s Bowers from James A. Stack, Sr. Collection

Could there be a 17th 1804 silver dollar that exists?

I believe it’s highly unlikely but only history knows what employees at the U.S. Mint created during the mid-to-late 1800s.

However, I believe there’s lots more history that will be discovered about 1804 dollars over time. I encourage more people to study and research 1804 dollars. Follow your questions. I wish you much fun!