The sun., 1898-01-02
SILVER DOLLARS OF 1904.
WE'RE THERE ANY COINED IN THAT
FEAR IN THE MINTSP
Doubts This raint Held by Numisuatists
and Siint Ouariat-. Who sny That the Die
Made Tor That Year wnn Not Uaed Thon.

From the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph.
Coin collectors, experts, and curio hunters
throughout tho country are much interested in
a story from Great Falls, Mon, that q bartend.
or at Choteou, Mon, mad taken in over the
counter for drinks an 1904 silver dollar, said to
be genuine. In this city the better informed
nnmismntlsts place little faith in the dollar
being tho real thing. They can, however, but
theorze on that point at this distance, but IL
any ono has faith in the find. they have been
very careful TO hold their tongues when dis
cussing the incident.
In this connection it is important to mention
n fact that is probably not known to the general
public, and that Is the doubt, now generally
held by men who make old coins q study, es TO
whether there ,werc ever any silver. dollars
THIS doubt is also held by many OF the mint ON.
cials who have been connected with that tn
su,Gn sbs aS tor ia ana 1t F9es Jar 10
10000 OF these dollars wcro coined in that year,
and were shiLp"d To Tripoli to pay tho Unitod
states troops in service there, and of tholr uso
to purchase tho freedom uf Americans cnslaved
by. tho barbarians of northern Area.
tend to show, yearly 10000 OF these coins struck
OFT IN 1904 or not, so much doubt exists con-
dealer would guarantee that any specimen, no
matter how nearly perfect was not re estrike-
spite the fact that the coin may bear that date.
IL has been claimed that out OF tho whole
which ress there off IN hS
Soar. Two OF these arc said to be held in New
York York ,ol another in t. this state, and 4 tho Mon,
supposed that that is the fourth With oil of
tho uncertainty concerning tho history Of the
Slo,0oo, although tho highest nrico ever given
for one; rs far as known, was 81 200.
of J. Colyin Randall of 1905 Chestnut street,
| one of the. most noted nunisnotists in this
eon Was sma %S' aSoa s FAR as
that Is concerned believe the 1901 dollar is
as good nd hns tRssy to Sa g. SSS hS
Others in and outside of tho mint, who havo
tried to inycstiga,G tho matter n II thfrc Is now
| that was not a ro-strike. We all know that
there was die made for use in that year. but
not used for years nfterward. know that tho
mint reports say that nearly 10000 silyor
| has proved time and time ngain that the mint
| records Of the early days have boon absolutely
sorve the purposes OF men who have at differ
ent times not only only tried to n ROB ihe Govern
make re.strikes without the authority of Con-
gress: but 1t has been this character OF violation
! OF law that has figured most prominently in the
history of this remarkable coin, for spccimsas
OF which more money. has been paid than for
Ss Who ' worked this game either did not fear tho
law or they felt safe in the protection Of men
the sos man employed in the mint made re.
strike Of twelve or fifteen OF these coins for
tbem on tho market. % This happened again i' dur
ing the latter part of the 50s or during the COS.
when there was restrike OF more than 100.
All of these brought high prices and finally
found their way to the treasuri.s of the curio
hunters. The supposed real dollar of 1904 had
stamped on its edge tho words 100 cents-one
dollar unit but those coined during the sos
had smooth edges, and attempts were ,tn made to
easily be detected by the irregular appearance
'onc OF the cmployee ees of the mint who after
bprnmp n we'll known ward DOliticiQn. but In
now dead, came to me one day In 1873 and of
fercd to sell one of the coins OF the last restrike
He pretended that 1t was the real thing and said
quoted at that time at $500. He @ told story Of
that one was offered to me for $500. II is need
when the last strike was made the scandal
got out in some way and md IRE resolution passed 9y
SSSnESss at s end Of
the custom at present and re'strikes can scarcely
h hs 9ss S Of thai te Of OF
There have been other fraudulent dealings
in connection, with this coin in the shape Of al.
who have them in their possession to-day. Fa.
yorite coins for this PURPOSE were the dollars Of
son figure n @ '' hs could Bo sodered
oSy as to
coin, This would cause tho figure to drop off.
paid hs for highest rof an
gst who resided in the Ninth ward. 1t was
the druggist from John Hazoltine. Some time
after its sale the druggist wanted me to buy It
my client that it was a re:strke dollar. and
advised him not to take it. but he insisted upon
that a lawyer named John Nj. Hale Of Phillips
burg. Centre county. Pa, gave me $66O for IT.
ebasne he tooE It to the mint and some one
there told him that the coin was struck Off dur
"a favorite scheme used frequently by deal
ers who have no principle Is to secretly send bo.
gus coins TO Europe, where they appear strange
ly in an auction room and are sod at any price
wealthy @ iei man from the West Who bought an al:
dealer esd IRON from anu numismatist in this city. The
dealers hero had purchased it In Germany for
it to be genuine. This coin was aIlcrwurd the
cause of considerable c9ntenti0n. the purchaser
"s .!one Of iI These 1soi dollars is now owned by
L. f. Altwein of st. Joseph. Mo-, who, after
long bought IL ior %n aora In9ls nn
The other was in the collection OF l'armlec the
noted Boston numismatist and collector. He
paid $3.50 for II some time in the 7Os, but could
undoubtedly have sold it for more than three
times that amount. At ono time II Is said. the
negotiations fell through. Wnen the Parmloo
collection was sold at auction In this city sew
eral years ago the famOGs dollar was not IL part
OF it, From time TO time reports OF other 1904
dollars have been CIRCULATED, Dut they inyarla-
bly, turned out TO DC elmer WITHOUT
or to refer TO bad commercials
One of the officials Of the m mt said today: II
do not believe that there ever was II silver dol
lar coined in the mint in 1904. ] know tho REQ.
ords say that there were 1880 coined but
doubt that, because there is nothing TO show
| that we had tho silver to coin. These dollars
are. therefore. In my opinion. all re-str!keS and
| were made by persons employed by Ine Govern.
ment here, for speculative purposes. lhey
| pockcted the profits, and in making the ro'
strikes were violating the law. Some of tho
| persons concerned In this work were officials OF
| very high standing" ,.u
and the reasons therefor are as tollowH; Az
that time we were engaged in n war with IrP
oil, and our marines cruising about the loftI'
| crn coast Of Africa had to be paiL. \ rnri4ln
member OF Congress made himself M p.pulEaT
| by suggesting that necessity in II very oFGtini
| manner, for funds were scarce at lhHl lliAo.
Tho objection at once met HIM: 90 3,
| There Is no money TO pay tnrm win.
"In the mint are 10000 SILVER collars hoi So' \
| issued" he replied. why not 7cn' iNosoi "a
Accordingly tho silver dollars were Ti't.eu
| to gladden. the hearts of the nlnrihra. ~ 'np,
pened that about that time trinc'Iheh lFoii '''o
| intcrior.had come foraging to the g"ts IT, M',o