The real story behind the rarity of the 1804 dollar
dbldie55
Posts: 7,740 ✭✭✭✭✭
In the E-Sylum news letter from yesterday are two sections on the 1804 Dollar. The first being the auction catalog for 1902 sale of the Felix Delos collection had been added to the NNP. This sale supposedly included an 1804 dollar.
Later on was more information regarding how Felix came about owning this coin. It was an article in the New York Sun about a bartender in Montana named Billy Seymour getting an example as payment (and not knowing it).
Since this was in my home state, I did a little more digging and found this happened in December 1897 at the Downes & Benton bar in Choteau.
But what was interesting was the reason these were so rare. Here is a portion of the article from Anaconda Standard on Sunday December 12, 1897.
"There are but four coins of this issue in the known world. One is the property of a New York coin dealer, one lies in the British Museum and the other the property of a Southern gentleman. The forth has never been found unless brought to light in Teton county a few days since proves to be it. The issue was in circulation but a short times and was called in before much of it got out, on account of an enormous amount of counterfeits of the same issue being circulated at the same time. According to government reports all but four were got back into the mint and a year later the value of these coins had jumped from their face to $500."
So there you have it, they were recalled and all were recovered except 4. I really wonder what "government reports" they are referring to?
Comments
Ah, a graduate of the "make it up as you go along" school of journalism!
Hmmmm. For some reason I have a personal dislike of the 1804 dollars. Seems to be an official-ish fantasy issue....
But, I love the area around Choteau. I did some work on a highway design up there many, many years ago.
Oh! I though the bartender was Mary Cunningham?
I always enjoy the stories or legends that surround many of these coin rarities....After reading or discussing some, I often dream of finding one... then I wake up...
Cheers, RickO
Early version of "fake news"? So that's where it started.