Best of the Mint 1804 Silver Dollar Gold Coin and Silver Medal Set
The date tells a lie. However, the coin tells one of the greatest stories in American numismatics.
No U.S. Mint worker struck a silver dollar dated 1804 during that year. Yet the mysterious date later appeared on a tiny group of diplomatic presentation coins. Those pieces traveled across oceans, entered royal courts, inspired secret restrikes, and became million-dollar trophies.
Now, the United States Mint will bring that legendary design back in gold.
The 2026 1804 Dollar Gold Coin Set goes on sale August 27, 2026, at noon Eastern Time. Officially called the Best of the Mint 1804 Silver Dollar Gold Coin and Silver Medal Set, the release pairs a one-ounce gold coin with a one-ounce silver medal. The Mint lists the set under item number 26BM4. It has also set an initial household order limit of one.
The Mint has not announced the price. It also has not posted a mintage limit or product limit. Therefore, collectors will need to watch the official product page as the release date approaches.
A Dollar That Never Existed in 1804
Mint records report that workers produced 19,570 silver dollars during calendar year 1804. However, those coins almost certainly carried the date 1803.
Early Mint workers often used dies until they failed. They did not automatically discard a die when the calendar changed. Therefore, production records tracked when workers made coins, not always the dates that appeared on them.
The Mint stopped regular silver dollar production after 1803. Rising silver prices had made the large coins attractive for export and melting. Large-scale dollar production would not return until 1840.
Consequently, no genuine circulation-strike silver dollar carries the date 1804.
The famous coins came later.
Andrew Jackson Sends American Money Around the World
In November 1834, Secretary of State John Forsyth contacted Mint Director Samuel Moore. President Andrew Jackson wanted complete sets of American coins for foreign rulers.
The government planned to send one set to the King of Siam. Another would go to the Sultan of Muscat, whose territory centered on present-day Oman. Officials hoped the gifts would support American trade and diplomacy in Asia.
However, the request created a problem.
The United States no longer produced silver dollars or $10 gold eagles. Even so, officials wanted each presentation case to represent every authorized denomination.
Mint employees reviewed their records. Those records showed 1804 as the final production year for both denominations. The records did not explain that the silver dollars made during 1804 probably carried 1803 dies.
Therefore, engravers created new silver dollar dies bearing the date 1804. They used Robert Scot’s Draped Bust Liberty and Heraldic Eagle designs. The result looked like a lost coin from the early republic.
In reality, Mint workers began producing the coins three decades after the date on their faces.
The Dollar Becomes a Diplomatic Passport
American envoy Edmund Roberts carried the presentation sets overseas.
Roberts delivered one set to Sultan Said bin Sultan of Muscat in 1835. Then, in 1836, he presented another set to King Rama III of Siam. Each elaborate case contained Proof examples of American coins, including an 1804 Dollar.
Roberts planned additional presentations in Japan and Cochin-China, now part of Vietnam. However, he died in Macau in June 1836. His death ended the mission before he could deliver those sets.
For years, collectors knew little about the diplomatic dollars.
Then, in 1842, Mint employees Jacob R. Eckfeldt and William E. Du Bois published an illustration of an 1804 Dollar. The image stunned collectors. Most believed that the Draped Bust Dollar series had ended with the 1803 date.
A year later, collector Matthew Stickney acquired an example from the Mint Cabinet through an exchange of rare coins. That transaction placed the mysterious dollar directly into the emerging American coin market.
Its legend quickly grew.
Class I: The Eight Original 1804 Dollars
Researchers call the diplomatic-era coins Class I 1804 Dollars.
Eight Class I examples survive. Mint workers struck them with the first reverse die and gave them lettered edges. The edge reads:
HUNDRED CENTS ONE DOLLAR OR UNIT
The eight coins include the examples associated with the King of Siam and Sultan of Muscat presentation sets. Other pieces entered the Mint Cabinet or important private collections.
Each Class I dollar now ranks among America’s greatest numismatic treasures.
However, the story did not end with the diplomatic mission.
Class II and III: Trouble Inside the Mint
By the late 1850s, collectors desperately wanted 1804 Dollars. Mint insiders responded in a way that still fuels debate.
Employees secretly produced additional examples with a second reverse die.
The sole surviving Class II 1804 Dollar has a plain edge. Workers struck it over an 1857 Swiss shooting thaler from Bern. The underlying host coin remains visible in places. Today, the Smithsonian Institution holds this unique piece in the National Numismatic Collection. It has never entered private ownership.
Mint officials later tried to recover other plain-edge restrikes after the activity triggered public controversy.
Meanwhile, workers added edge lettering to another group of restrikes. Researchers now call those coins Class III 1804 Dollars. Several examples show artificial wear, apparently added to make them look older.
For decades, numismatists recognized six Class III pieces.
Then, the census changed.
A 16th 1804 Dollar Emerges After More Than 70 Years
In August 2025, Stack’s Bowers Galleries announced a previously unpublished Class III 1804 Dollar from the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection.
Stack had acquired the coin before his death in 1951. However, the piece remained outside the published census for decades. PCGS graded it Proof-65. CAC and CMQ also approved it.
The discovery raised the recognized population from 15 to 16 coins. The current census now includes eight Class I dollars, one Class II dollar, and seven Class III dollars.
On December 9, 2025, Stack’s Bowers sold the newly revealed coin for $6 million. It became the finest Class III example in private hands and the only 1804 Dollar of any class to receive CAC or CMQ approval.
The discovery gave the 1804 Dollar story another remarkable chapter just months before the Mint’s 2026 gold tribute.
Why Collectors Call It the King of American Coins
The 1804 Dollar does not rank as the rarest American coin. Other federal issues survive in smaller numbers.
However, few coins can match its combination of mystery, diplomacy, secrecy, rarity, and market power.
Dealer B. Max Mehl called it the “King of American Coins” in 1941. The title stuck. Since then, major collectors have treated ownership of an 1804 Dollar as one of the hobby’s ultimate achievements.
Prices reflect that status.
In August 2021, Stack’s Bowers sold the finest-known Class I example, the Childs-Pogue specimen, for $7.68 million. Four years later, the newly discovered James A. Stack Class III coin brought $6 million.
Now, the Mint will place the King’s design within reach of a much broader collector audience. Of course, the new issue cannot duplicate the rarity or history of the originals. Instead, it translates their story into a modern precious-metal set.
The 2026 1804 Dollar Gold Coin
The gold coin presents a faithful interpretation of the Class I 1804 Dollar. Robert Scot, the first Chief Engraver of the United States Mint, created the historic designs.
The obverse shows Liberty facing right. A ribbon binds her long, flowing hair. Seven six-pointed stars appear to her left, while six appear to her right. The inscriptions read LIBERTY and 1804.
However, one new element marks the coin as a 2026 tribute. A Liberty Bell privy mark appears in the right field. The numerals 250 run vertically inside the bell.
The reverse features a heraldic eagle with raised wings. A United States shield covers its breast. The eagle holds 13 arrows and an olive branch. It also carries an E PLURIBUS UNUM ribbon in its beak. Thirteen stars and an arc of clouds appear above.
The inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA surrounds the design. Meanwhile, the edge carries the denomination ONE DOLLAR. Official Mint images show stars separating the edge inscription.
The gold coin uses a Proof finish. Contemporary reporting also describes it as a high-relief reproduction of the Class I dollar.
The Silver Medal Tells the Story’s Next Chapter
The companion medal does not copy the original dollar. Instead, it interprets its diplomatic legacy.
United States Mint Medallic Artist Joseph V. Noorigian designed and sculpted both sides.
The obverse presents a youthful Liberty facing left. Her hair flows behind her like a series of ribbons. Thirteen five-pointed stars surround the portrait. The inscriptions read LIBERTY and 2026.
The reverse shows an eagle flying above a globe. A rising sun sends long rays across the field. Meanwhile, clouds form a braided ring around the Earth.
Those clouds connect the medal to the arched clouds above the eagle on the original dollar. They also represent the coin’s journey across the world as an American diplomatic gift.
The inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA follows the upper border. Noorigian’s JVN initials appear on both designs.
The pairing creates a striking contrast. The gold coin looks backward toward the early republic. The silver medal looks outward toward the dollar’s global reach.
Confirmed 2026 Set 1804 Dollar Gold Coin Specifications
- Denomination: One Dollar
- Composition: 99.99% fine, 24-karat gold
- Gold weight: One troy ounce
- Finish: Proof
- Historic designer and engraver: Robert Scot
- Date displayed: 1804
- Privy mark: Liberty Bell with vertical “250”
- Obverse: Draped Bust Liberty
- Reverse: Heraldic Eagle
- Edge: Lettered with the dollar denomination and stars
Silver Companion Medal
- Denomination: None
- Composition: 99.9% fine silver
- Silver weight: One troy ounce
- Designer and sculptor: Joseph V. Noorigian
- Date displayed: 2026
- Obverse: Modern Liberty with flowing, ribbon-like hair
- Reverse: Eagle, rising sun, globe, and braided cloud motif
The Mint lists the full set as a multi-facility Philadelphia and West Point product. However, it has not yet posted complete diameter, thickness, or silver-medal finish information.
Original 1804 Dollar Specifications
The historic 1804 Dollar followed the federal silver standard that applied before Congress changed the alloy in 1837.
- Denomination: One Dollar
- Composition: 89.24% silver and 10.76% copper
- Standard weight: 26.96 grams
- Standard weight in grains: 416.05 grains
- Diameter: Approximately 39 to 40 mm
- Edge: HUNDRED CENTS ONE DOLLAR OR UNIT
- Designer and engraver: Robert Scot
- Class I production period: 1834-1835
- Original purpose: Diplomatic presentation sets
Individual surviving coins show minor weight differences. However, these figures reflect the standard specifications for the Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle dollar.
Ordering the 2026 1804 Dollar Gold Coin Set
The Mint will open sales on Thursday, August 27, 2026, at noon Eastern Time.
The official product number is 26BM4. The initial household order limit stands at one set. However, the Mint may later adjust or remove that limit.
As of July 30, the Mint lists the price as TBD. It has also left the mintage and product limits blank. Because the set contains a full ounce of gold, the final price will depend heavily on the Mint’s precious-metal pricing range.
Collectors should verify all ordering details immediately before the launch.
The King Returns, but the Mystery Remains
The 2026 tribute gives collectors something the original 1804 Dollar never offered: broad public access.
Yet the new set also arrives at the perfect moment.
The discovery of a 16th original has reopened questions about Mint insiders, undocumented ownership, and the true number of restrikes. Meanwhile, the diplomatic history still connects early American coinage with royal courts thousands of miles from Philadelphia.
Therefore, the new gold coin represents more than a classic design in a different metal.
It recalls a coin that carried the wrong date, served the right diplomatic purpose, and became the unquestioned King of American Coins.
More than two centuries after the date on its face, the 1804 Dollar still holds its throne.
