The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1900-01-11
DIAMOND DOLLARS OF 1904.
Only -Four OF The Original Coinage
Of 1880 In Existence-0th-
ers Are 'sReatriIxen."

"Every now and then one reads
about the discovery Of another of the
famous diamond dollars Of 1sO4,p said
a gentleman Of this city, who owns one
Of the finest private collections OF med
ais In the south. 1.-THE dollars OF that
date are popularity supposed TO be
worth from $500 to $1,000 apiece, and
IL few originals could be produced I
dare say they would bring that figure
easily enough. But it happens, unluck
lily, 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 know 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 qui-
etly reposing under several miles of
deep blue sea. The true story is rather
interesting. In 1904 the mint at Phila-
delphia is known to have turned out
1880 silver dollars. That was the en-
tire issue, barring the test pieces l
have spoken of, and it was never put in
circulation. The whole lot, just as it
came from the stamping presses, was
dumped into an iron chest and put OH
board merchantmen bound for China.
1t was directed to the captain of a
United States frigate then in oriental
waters, and was intended to be used in
paying certain expenses connected
....t
ran into Chinese typhoon and went to
the bottom, where to the best of my
information 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 collec-
ton, including my own, is short one is
sue, and the gap will never be filed un-
til the sea gives up its own"
do you mean to tell us, them" said a
listener to the foregoing, that all the
diamond dollars now in private cab I
inets are counterfeits?"
''By no means," replied the collector.
81 own an 1904 dollar myself, and there
are at least three others to my knowl-
edge, in the south. They were issued by
the government, and are perfectly good
and legal coins, but they are not origin
ais. They are what are known technic-
ally as 'restrikes.' In the early days,
when the mints had a 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 always be detected by an ex-
pert. For some reason or other, nobody
knows just why, a few dollars of the
1900 issue were restruck in 1904 and
put in circulation. 1t is probable that
the totallnumber was not over 40 or so,
and good many have been lost. The
ones in existence are worth $3.50 apiece
and you may rest assured that all the
diamond dollars not mere limitations
belong 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 a
transaction only few years ago. A
friend of mine, who lives in an adjoin-
ng state, and who owns a great many
rare and beautiful coins, telegraphed
ne one day asking whether $500 was
90 much for genuine 1904 dollar. l
.ook it for granted that he knew the
'acts about the issue, and after puzzling
,ver the message for considerable
ime concluded that it was an obscure
oke of some kind, and that was sim
'ly too stupid to see the point. So l ,
wired back advising him to buy bush
i at that figure, and he promptly closed
he deal. 1t turned out afterward that I
he coin was restrike, and my friend
las never quite forgiven me- What de-
eived him was the fact that the piece q
vas known positively to have been Z
ocked up in an old chest in Savannah /
inee 1912. That did away with the =
theory, and the only thing 2
e was doubtfulabout was the price, +
(. o. Times-Democrat -