1804 Class III Proof

The Class III 1804 dollars are restrikes produced clandestinely at the Philadelphia Mint circa 1858-1860, primarily attributed to Theodore Eckfeldt. They use the same obverse die as the Class I and Class II specimens (originally prepared in 1834) but a different, reconstructed reverse die identifiable by a diagnostic rust pit. The edge lettering on Class III coins was applied after striking, leaving the coin surfaces slightly concave, a key diagnostic that separates them from Class I pieces (where the edge lettering was applied before striking).

Seven specimens are now known. For decades the census stood at six, until 2025, when a previously unknown example surfaced from the James A. Stack, Sr. collection, where it had been concealed for over 70 years. That coin, graded PCGS PR65 with CAC and CMQ endorsements, sold for $6,000,000 at Stack's Bowers in December 2025, setting the record for a Class III specimen. An Adams-Carter specimen (PR58) sold for $3,538,000 at the Heritage FUN auction in January 2026, and an earlier sale of the same coin brought $2,300,000 at Heritage in 2009.

Three of the seven specimens reside in institutions: the Linderman-DuPont specimen at the Smithsonian, the Idler-Bebee specimen at the ANA Money Museum, and the Rosenthal-Ellsworth-ANS specimen at the American Numismatic Society. Four remain in private hands. The Eckfeldt operation also produced the unique Class II specimen (on a different reverse die) and is connected to the "Midnight Mint" episode, where Mint employees struck coins for private sale through Philadelphia dealer Captain John W. Haseltine. Four of the six original Class III specimens were deliberately carried as pocket pieces to simulate circulation wear and give them an appearance of age and authenticity. The dies were confiscated by Snowden in 1860, sealed in a box, and destroyed by his successor in 1868.