Object Details
issuing authority
United States Mint
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
obverse designer
Scot, Robert
reverse designer
Scot, Robert
obverse engraver
Eckstein, John
reverse engraver
Eckstein, John
Description
Employees at the Mint continued to strike 1804 dollars illegally through the late 1870s. It is thought that around half a dozen were created, some for sale, perhaps in European auctions, to give them an air of plausibility; others for trade, to acquire rare coins that the Mint Cabinet lacked. Six of these coins, called "class three" dollars, to distinguish them from the 1834 "class two" dollars, have been traced.
The Smithsonian's class three 1804 dollar has a checkered history. It was initially the property of Mint Director H. R. Linderman and was probably struck to his order. However, when it appeared in his estate, his widow came up with the story that he bought it on time payments from a coin dealer.
Eventually this coin was purchased by Willis DuPont. It was stolen in the 1967 armed robbery of the DuPont Collection and retrieved early in 1982. It came to the Smithsonian Institution in 1994. It exhibits the weak strike on the central devices shared by the other members of class three.
Credit Line
Willis H. du Pont
date made
1804
ID Number
1994.0391.0001
catalog number
1994.0391.0001
accession number
1994.0391
Object Name
coin
Physical Description
silver (overall metal)
0 (overall die axis)
0 (overall die axis measurement)
struck (overall production method)
Measurements
overall: .3 cm x 3.94 cm; 1/8 in x 1 9/16 in
place made
United States
Related Publication
Zoomable Image and Details
Glossary of Coins and Currency Terms
Related Web Publication
http://americanhistory.si.edu/coins/glossary.cfm
See more items in
Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
Coins
Numismatics
Coins, Currency and Medals
Legendary Coins
Exhibition
Value of Money
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1169155