The King
The 1804 United States Silver Dollar, a coin that even the non-collector has heard of, was not struck in 1804. Though widely renowned as "The King of American Coins", it really is fictitious date. No One Dollar coins were authorized with the 1804 date.
The first strikes of the 1804 Dollar occured in 1834 when the United States Department of State ordered two sets of coins, containing an example of all denominations then in use, to be made for presentation to the King of Siam and to the Sultan of Muscat. Since neither Dollars nor Gold Eagles were then being coined, the Mint Director, Samuel Moore, ordered that dies be prepared with the 1804 date. As it turned out, a total of eight 1804 Silver Dollars were produced. One speciman, once owned by James Dexter is interesting. Dexter enjoyed stamping his coins with the letter "D". This particular 1804 Dollar has Dexter's stamped "D" in one of the clouds on the reverse. This coin, at the time owned by Leon Hendrickson, an Indiana coin dealer, sold at auction for $990,000.
Sometime later, thought to be in the 1850's, a number of additional Dollar coins were struck with the 1804 date. It was a common practice at the time for mint personel to trade or sell items of collector interest. The additional coins are now known as the "Class II" and "Class III" restrikes. The single "Class II" restrike known is unusual in that it is struck over a Swiss shooting Thaler. A total of six "Class III" restrikes are known to exist.
The grades of the surviving 1804 Dollars range from Extra-Fine to Choice Proof. Unfortunately, several have been poorly cleaned.
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