The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1899-12-20
DIAMOND DOLLARS OF 1904.
only Four OF the orixinal Coinage
or 1850 Inn Exfmfence.

OH AWsO1W MM EAMMAEM%E~
Every now and then one reads about
the discovery of another of the famous
diamond dollars of 1904" said a gen.
tleInan of this city who owns one or
the finest private collections of coins
and medals in the south. THE dollars
OF that date are popularity supposed to
be worth from $500 to $1,000 apiece.
and If few originals could be pro-
dnced dare say they would bring that
figure easily enough. But it happens.
unluckily. that there are only four on
earth. and they are locked up in the
vaults Of the treasury building at
Washington and couldn't be bought at
any price. They are what are known
as the test pieces which are always
laid aside whenever n new coin 10
struck, ard the rest OF the Issue Ii at
this Inolnent quietly reposing under
several miles OF deep blue sen The
true story Is rather interesting. In
1901 the mint at Philadelphia ls known
to hive turned out 1850 silver dollars.
That was the entire issue. barring the
test pieces | have just spoken OF. and
whole lot. just as It came from the
stamping presses. was dumped into an
iron chest and put OH board a mer-
chnntman bound for China. It was
directed to the captain of n United
States friGatc then In oriental waters.
aud was intended To be used In paying
certain expenses connected with the
service. The mcrchantman ran into
Chinese typhoon and went 10 the bot
tom. whore TO the best OF my informa-
tion she still remains. iron chest and
all, and that Is the reason your Uncle
Sam Is the only collector In the world
who has n complete set OF American
dollars. Every other collection. includ
ing my own. is short one issue, and the
gap will never he filled until the sea
gives up its own"
do you mean TO tell US. then," said
a listener to the foregoing, that all
the diamond dollars now in private
cabinets are counterfeits?" by no
means" replied the collector. Il own
an 1901 dollar myself. and there are ut
least three others. TO my knowledge, in
the south They were issued by the
government and are perfectly good and
legal coins. but they are not originals.
They are what are known technically
as 'rcstrikes.' In the early days, when
the nints had n few coins left over
from one year TO another they would
change the date by striking them with
a special die. an operation that can al
ways he detected by an expert. For
some reason or other nobody knows
just why. few dollars of the 1900 is
sue were rcstruck in 1904 and put in
circulation. 1t is probable that the total
number was not over 40 or so, and n
good many have been lost. The ones in
existence are worth $50 apiece, and
you may rest assured that all the 'dia-
mond dollars not mere limitations be-
long to this little lot of restrikeS.
'Of course. some of them have been
sold to green collectors as originals. |
and | was myself the innocent cause of
such Il transaction only a few years
ago, y friend of mine. who lives in an
adjoining state. and who owns a great |
many rare and beautiful coins. tele-
graphed me one day asking whether |
$500 was too much for q genuine 1904 |
dollar. ] took it for granted that he
knew the facts about the issue. and |
after pnZZlin- over the message for a |
conSidrrahl" time concluded that II |
was an obscure joke of some kind and |
that was simply too stupid to see the |
point. So wired back advising him TO
buy buSbcf at that figure. and he
promptly closed the deal. 1t turned out
afterward that the coin was a restrike
and my friend has never quite forgiven
me. What deceived him was the fact
that the piece was known positively to
have been locked up i'm an old chest at
Savannah since 1872. That did away
with the counterfeit theory, and the i
only thing lie was doubtful about was
the price."-New Orleans Times Demo
crat. Il