1804 Class I Proof Draped Bust Dollar

The 1804 dollar has been called the King of American Coins since auctioneer W. Elliot Woodward first applied the phrase in 1885. Henry Chapman cemented the title at his 1907 sale of the Stickney specimen, declaring it "THE KING OF UNITED STATES COINS." No American coin has attracted more collector attention, more scholarly research, or more money at auction.

No dollar was actually struck with an 1804 date in 1804. Mint records show 19,570 dollars delivered that year, but all were struck from 1803-dated dies. The Mint routinely used dies until they wore out, and production ceased in March 1804 after President Jefferson effectively halted silver dollar coinage to stop an arbitrage scheme. American dollars were being shipped to the West Indies, exchanged for heavier Spanish milled dollars, and the Spanish coins were then imported and melted for profit. No new dollar dies were made, and no dollars were struck again for more than three decades.

The 1804-dated dollars that exist today were created in 1834-1835. Secretary of State John Forsyth directed Mint Director Robert Patterson to prepare complete proof sets as diplomatic gifts for the Sultan of Muscat and the King of Siam. The Mint consulted its delivery records, saw 1804 as the last year dollars had been shipped, and created new 1804-dated dies for the sets. Eight Class I specimens were struck, all proofs.

Three of the eight reside in institutions: the Mint Cabinet specimen (now at the Smithsonian), the Parmelee specimen (at the Durham Museum in Omaha), and the Cohen specimen (at the ANA Money Museum in Colorado Springs). The remaining five are in private hands. The Sultan of Muscat specimen, graded PCGS PR68, is the finest known. It sold for $4,140,000 at Bowers and Merena in August 1999 (then a world record), and again for $7,680,000 at Stack's Bowers in August 2021. The Stickney-Eliasberg specimen (PCGS PR65) brought $3,360,000 at Stack's Bowers in December 2020. The Dexter specimen (PCGS PR65), identifiable by the tiny "D" that James Vila Dexter punched into the reverse clouds, sold for $3,290,000 in the Pogue Collection sale in March 2017. The Mickley-Hawn-Queller specimen (PCGS PR62) realized $3,877,500 at Heritage in August 2013.

The King of Siam specimen (PCGS PR67) is part of The Tyrant Collection and has not been publicly offered since 1993. Matthew Stickney acquired his specimen directly from the Mint on May 9, 1843, exchanging a group of rare coins (including a unique gold Immune Columbia piece) for a coin the Mint held as a duplicate. That transaction was the first time an 1804 dollar entered a private collection.