The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-04-01
THE 1904 DOLLAR.
a Flood of Light Is Thrown on the His
tory of That Rare Coin.

Flood of Light Is Thrown on the His
tory of That Rare Coin.
The writer Of this article saw the follow
ing item of news in The Republican several
days since. He hes seen the same or a SINH
lar article in about one hundred newspapers
published all over the United States within
few weeks 1t first originated in paper at
st. Paul, MINI. Here follows said item:
1.-THE missing dollar Of 1904 is said to have
tnrned up. In that year but four silver dol
lars were coined. The whereabouts Of three
of these have long been known TO coin col
lectors, but the fourth has been missing. DR..
Edward Walther, of ST. Paul, Mimi, is now
advertised 60 have found the long lost piece
in the possession OF an aged Norwegian liv
ing in the southern part of the state, who
had kept the piece in the depths Of a stocking
for many years. The doctor paid $50 for
the dollar. 1t Is quoted in coin catalogues at
$780,
There is about as much false information
published TO the world in the above as is pos
sible in 50 few lines. It is time some one
who knows should correct these statements
and let the public know the facts about the
celebrated 1904 dollar 1t is true there is
some difficulty in obtaining the facts and
some obscurity as to the number of these dol
lars that have been minted The article above
says that only four Of the dollars were struck
in that year. There were none struck. The
die was undoubtedly made for q dollar Of
1904, but none were issued.
The die for the half dollar of the same year
was made, but who ever saw half dollar of
1902 We know the die was manufactured,
for the next year an 1906 half dollar was
struck which plainly shows the four under
the five. To go back to the 1904 dollar: 1
have record of ten Of these dollars of I'M
doubted genuineness and names Of the owners
and place of residence can be furnished. So
much for the story published above. Per-
haps the readers of this paper would like
some of the facts connected with the issue Of
this dollar. It was probably first struck
about 1910.
The mint at Philadelphia has one of the
first, and Mr.. Stickney OF Salem, Mass,
had influence enough to have one struck for
his collection. He gave the mint in exchange
rare and valuable colonial coins. Mr. Stick
ney is now between 80 and 80 years old, and
the probabilities strong that his specimens
may be soon On the market. Other we'll
known collectors also obtained the dollar for
their cabinets. Later some of the mint work
men, unbeknown to the authorities, so it is
said, surreptitiously struck off few more;
how many is not certainly known. When
this came to the ears of the authorities siren
uous efforts were made to reach and call them
in. A few were found, but the problem still
remains as to how many may yet come to
light. The original dies were destroyed in
1869. One was found in the year 1884 in
Germany, and was sold the next year for
$1,000.
Prices for this dollar have ranged all the
way from 500 to $1,000 No counterfeit
dies of the 1904 dollar were ever made, but
many electrotYpes and altered dates are in
the hands Of collectors and dealers of old
coins. The writer has examined probably a
hundred of these spurious dollars Many col
lectors know that their specimens are not
genuine, but they allow their friends who are
not posted to believe they are genuine. The
late John T. Raymond was led TO purchase
one Of this kind some years ago Ia Chicago,
for which he paid $500. A short time since,
when his collection was sold, it brought $3.50
and this because it had once belonged to
the famous actor, and not because it was
worth any thing like that sum.
II the truth could be known the strong
probability is that the dollar found by Dr.
Edward WaltheT, of st. Paul, in the hands of
the aged Norwegian" would belong to the
same category as the Raymond dollar Two
years ago in the city OF Meriden a Snowman
offered for nay inspection and purchase an
1904 dollar. He was not sure Of its genuine
ness, but knew if it was it possessed great
value. The writer knew at once it was al
altered date-prUbably from an 1901 dollar
1t was well calculated to deceive
A few months later this identical dollar
was found in the hands of a man in Burling-
ton, VT. His statement was that he found it
in Montreal nearly forty years ago, and he
had been the owner ever SINCE.
Nothing but ''impecuniosityn would allow
him to part with the dollar. A syndicate was
being formed to purchase it ON speculation,
but one of the gentlemen would not consunl-
mate the bargain till the dollar had been sub
mitted to my inspection. Being a personal
friend, the gentleman had to be told all about
the coin and its history. The syndicate went
to pieces. 1t is perhaps needless to say that
the obscurity hanging about this celebrated
dollar and the general desire of the public to
be informed of the facts connected Herewith
is all the apology necessary for writing this
article.-F. G. NJ. in Meriden Republican.