Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1900-05-24
DIAMOND DOLLARS OF 1904
Only sour of the Original COINAGE
Of 1850 In Existence.

Vniy your Oh the originni Coinage
OF 1850 In Existence.
Every nov and then one reads abont
the discovery of another of the lannon's
diamond dollars of 1904 said a cpp.
tleman Of this city who owns one Of
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 a few originals could be pro.
duced j I dare say they would bring that
figure easily enough. But 1t 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 a new coin is
struck, and the rest of the issue is at
this moment quietly reposing under
several miles of deep blue sea. The
true story is rather interesting. In
1904 the mint at Philadelphia is known
to have turned out 1850 silver dollars.
That was the entire issue, barring the
test pieces / have just spoken of, and
It was never put into circulation. The
whole lot, just as 1t came from the
stamping presses, was dumped into an
iron chest and put on board a mer-
chairman bound for China. 1t was
directed to the captain of a United
G@o%a. frfratn fhan fn oriental yyofaro
and was intended to be used in paying
certain expenses connected with the
service. The merchantmen ran into a
Chinese typhoon and went to the bot.
tom, where to the best Of my informa'
ton she still remains, iron chest and
all, and that is the reason your Uncle
Sam is the only collector In the world
who has a complete set of American
dollars. Every other collection, lnclud.
ing my own, is short one issue, and the
gap will never be filled until the Sc
gives up it's 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 1904 dollar myself, and there are al
least three others, to my knowledge, ID
the south. They were issued by the
government and are perfectly good ana
legal coins, but they are not originals,
They are what are known technically
as 'restrikes.' In the early days, When
the minis had a few coins left over
from n year to another, they Woulu
change the date by striking them WIN
a special die, an operation that can ar
ways be detected by an expert. fof
some reason or other, nobody knows
just why. "A few dollars OF the 1900 IS
sue were restruc'. in 1904 and put III
circulation. II is probable that the totai
number was not over 40 or %, ana q
good many have been lost. The onesll
existence are worth Sl50 apiece, ana
you may rest assured that all the ua
mond dollars not mere limitations De
long to this little lot o. restTikes,
"Of course, some Of them have been
sold to green collectors as originals.
and | was myself the innocent cause
such a transaction only n few years
ago. a friend of mine, who lives ID az
adjoining state, and who owns a grea'
many rare and beautiful coins, telr
graphed me one day asking whether
5000 was too much for a genuine loof
dollar. ] took it for granted thai NC
knew the facts about the issue, anu
after puzzling over the message tor
considerable time concluded that y
was an obscure joke of some kin iio
that was simply too stupid to see tne
point. So | wired back advising him "
buy n bushel at that figure, and ~
promptly closed the deal. 1t turned oW
afterward that the coin was a restrihe1
and my friend has never quite forgiven
me. What deceived him was the lae'
that the piece vas known positlyel! y
have been locked UP in an old chest a.
savannah since 1912. That did away
with the counterfeit theory, and lne
only thing he was doubtful about wa'
the price."-New Orleans Times-Demc
erof