1 Dollar, United States, 1804 (Class I)
date: label: date made
content: 1804
name: label: mint
content: U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
notes: label: Description
content: The early dollars from the United States Mint were not instantly embraced by the public, which had become accustomed to the dollar's predecessor, the Spanish-American Piece of Eight. That coin contained slightly more silver than its new competitor.
label: Description
content: Then some entrepreneurs made an interesting discovery. They could buy American dollars, send them to the West Indies, and exchange them there at par for Spanish-American Pieces of Eight. Then they could bring the pesos home, turn them in to the Mint for melting, and make a profit by getting paid back in shiny new dollars.
label: Description
content: When the scheme was uncovered, it resulted in a thirty-year halt in dollar production, beginning in 1805. Some 19,570 dollars were coined in 1804, before the halt began. Interestingly, they weren't dated 1804, but 1803, thus avoiding the production of new dies. Although a common, cost-cutting policy at the early United States Mint, this act led to confusion years later, and to three legendary coins included in this exhibition.
label: Description
content: By the 1830s, American officials were actively exploring commercial opportunities elsewhere in the world. Seeking to influence foreign dignitaries, the Jackson administration instructed the Mint to create complete sets of specimen coins as gifts.
label: Description
content: The Philadelphia coiners did so for most other denominations without difficulty. But what to do about the silver dollar? They knew that 1804 dollars had been struck, but there didn't seem to be any survivors. So in November 1834, they created eight new 1804-dated dollars for the gift sets (later termed "class one" 1804 dollars).
label: Description
content: One of the eight became part of the set given to the Imam of Muscat, and another was sent to the King of Siam. And the other six? Within a few years, they escaped into private hands or entered circulation. And they became numismatic legends very quickly, for they had it all: mystery, intrigue, and tremendous rarity.
place: label: place made
content: United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
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content: Coins
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content: Numismatics
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content: Coins, Currency and Medals
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content: Legendary Coins
label: Exhibition
content: Value of Money
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Zoomable Image and Details
label: Related Publication
content: Glossary of Coins and Currency Terms
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/coins/glossary.cfm
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: U.S. Department of the Treasury, United States Mint
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1986.0836.0061
label: catalog number
content: 1986.0836.0061
label: accession number
content: 1986.0836
objectType: label: Object Name
content: coin
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: silver (overall metal)
label: Physical Description
content: 0 (overall die axis)
label: Physical Description
content: 0 (overall die axis measurement)
label: Physical Description
content: struck (overall production method)
label: Measurements
content: overall: .3 cm x 4 cm; 1/8 in x 1 9/16 in