John Dannreuther co-founded the Professional Coin Grading Service in 1986 and is a prolific author and numismatic researcher. He is considered one of the top rare coin experts of all time.

Any numismatist will tell you that 1804 is one of those coin years that will perk up eyebrows when mentioned in a conversation. Mystery, intrigue and such are linked to that year.

When Thomas Jefferson became President in 1800, the drain of hard currency from the fledgling United States had been in progress almost since we struck gold (1795) and silver (1794) coins. Elias Boudinot, the third Mint Director, wrote these words in the 1799 Mint Report that was issued with a January 1, 1800 date: "The Director is sorry to observe, that the practice of melting down the coin of the United States, by workmen, in gold and silver, is, he fears, becoming too common, to the manifest loss of the United States."

The Mint was only complying with the Mint Act of 1792 when it struck silver and gold coins, as the amounts and fineness were dictated by the law. Although gold and silver coins were still struck after 1804, the largest denominations (silver dollars and gold eagles) were eliminated, at first probably by an order from Mint Director Boudinot.

When Robert Patterson replaced Boudinot in early 1806, this policy was formalized in a letter to Patterson from James Madison, the Secretary of State for Jefferson's two terms as President. This May 1, 1806 letter states in part: "…the President directs that all the silver to be coined at the mint shall be of small denominations, so that the value of the largest silver pieces shall not exceed half a dollar."

Although gold was not mentioned in this letter, 1804 was the last year this large denomination gold coin was struck until 1838. Both coins figured in international trade, but the silver dollar was a coin that the early 19th century consumer might actually see in commerce. The eagle, valued at ten silver dollars, was too large a sum to be useful in ordinary stateside commerce. The fact that 19,570 silver dollars were delivered in the first quarter of 1804, of course, would result in the production of the most famous 1804 issue – the King of American Coins, the 1804 silver dollar.

In 1834, Mint officials incorrectly assumed that these coins were dated 1804 and prepared 1804 silver dollars to include in presentation sets to be given to foreign leaders with whom the United States had signed trade treaties. The 321 dollars reported delivered in 1805 were a bookkeeping entry and no new silver dollars were struck after those delivered in early 1804.

Numismatic annals are filled with information about the 1804 silver dollar, but this article will focus on the other issues of this magical year. 1804 is filled with rare and interesting issues, although they have mostly been overshadowed by their large silver cousin. The discontinuance of the eagle and silver dollar left more time for the Mint to concentrate on the other issues, and not only was the production of other denominations increased, the engraving department experimented with new concepts in die making.

One of these experiments was revealed to the numismatic community in the John Reich Journal (Volume 18/Issue 2, June 2007). This journal is the publication of the John Reich Collectors Society, the group dedicated to the study of the early American silver and gold issues.

Bryce Brown has identified numerous half dollar dies of the 1805-07 era that have 153 dentils that are identically placed in relation to the bust and the eagle. This indicates that the dentils were in the master dies, transferred to the working hubs, and thus to each working die. The lettering and dates were added by hand to each of these working dies, so their relationships still vary with the main design. This experiment was likely abandoned because of excessive edge cracking (edge cuds). The importance of this discovery will be apparent in the discussion of one of the 1804 issues later in this article.

With these changes, the stage was set for coins dated 1804 to become some of the most desired in numismatics. Only two issues from this year are easily found – the half cent and the half eagle. Both of these issues are found with regularity and are modestly priced. The half eagle, of course, is an early United States gold coin, so demand for them is high, but one usually can be had for the price of the type. The other denominations are much more difficult to obtain.

Other than the 1799, no date of early large cents is as difficult to obtain as the 1804. Mostly seen on dark planchets, the 1804 large cent is a rarity in higher grades with coins above Extremely Fine seldom offered. Large cent collectors have long coveted this rare date and problem-free coins have disappeared from inventories and auctions into collections, often ensconced for decades.

There were no half dimes or half dollars struck dated 1804, but there were half dollars struck in 1804. They just were not dated 1804. It is likely that 1803-dated half dollars comprised most of the 156,519 coins delivered in 1804. The other two silver denominations, dimes and quarters, are members of the rarity club, a common feat for an 1804-dated issue.

There are two varieties of the 1804 dime, one with the unusual feature of 14 stars on the reverse die. The same obverse is combined to create the "normal" 13-Star Reverse 1804 dime. Both reverse dies were also used for the two varieties of quarter eagles struck in 1804 (Bass-Dannreuther 1 and 2, discussed later in this article). At one time, the 14-Star Reverse 1804 dime was considered much rarer than the 13-star reverse and for overall rarity is true. However, they are both quite rare in grades of Extremely Fine or better, and appear very infrequently. Many examples have damage, so finding a well-struck, undamaged example is difficult. They are dated 1804, so their popularity is assured. The fact that they are rare makes them even more desirable.

Collectors have desired the largest silver denomination actually struck in 1804 with that date, the quarter, since the beginning of coin collecting in the United States. It is not only a rare issue, it is the first year of the Draped Bust, Large or Heraldic Eagle type. Its magical 1804 date just adds to its popularity. As with the dimes, there are very few high-grade coins – although more high-grade 1804 quarters are known than for both varieties of 1804 dimes. There are many worn and damaged 1804 quarters, so it is evident that many were pulled from circulation in the nineteenth century by savvy collectors. The rare dollar dated 1804 certainly aided all 1804-dated issues, but most of them are legitimate rarities.

The gold issues are represented by the three denominations struck – quarter eagles (two varieties), half eagles (seven varieties), and eagles (one variety for circulation, one presentation variety). The half eagles are mentioned above as being available at type price, although there are several scarce-to-rare varieties among the seven die combinations used. The quarter eagles are represented by 13-Star and 14-Star reverse varieties. Bass-Dannreuther 2, the 14-Star reverse, is available, at least by early quarter eagle standards. The 13-Star reverse, BD-1, is a rarity with a dozen or so examples still extant. As noted under the dimes, the reverse dies of quarter eagles and dimes were shared during this era (their diameters were nearly the same and neither coin had a denomination, making this possible).

The half eagles are available for most of the seven Bass-Dannreuther varieties. There are three basic varieties of the 1804 half eagle: Normal 8, Small 4; Normal 8, Normal 4; an Normal over Large 8. Both of the Normal 8, Small 4 varieties (BD-1 and 2) are usually available for the type price, while BD-3 and 4 (Normal 8, Normal 4 varieties) are sometimes found for the common price, although BD-3 is scarce and BD-4 is a rarity with only a handful known.

BD-5, 6, and 7 are usually offered at a premium to the type price, as they are popular because of their use of a singular obverse die with the Normal 1 and 8 digits punched over previous large digits – those intended for eagles and half dollars. BD-5 is rare, while BD-6 is scarce with most of this popular, over-punched obverse consisting of the BD-7 combination.

With little premium currently charged for several of the scarce to rare varieties, one can buy an early American rarity for common price. There are not too many series where this is still true!

The circulation eagles of 1804 (BD-1, Crosslet 4) are represented by this single die combination. Although it is available for an early eagle with perhaps as many as 100 known, the 1804 date makes it seem much less available. These popular eagles are snapped up by collectors as soon as they hit the marketplace, despite many of them having problems – both mint-caused and post-striking impairments. The survival of "problem" coins indicates an early popularity with collectors, as noted with the dimes and quarters of this year.

Collectors of the 19th century would be happy to fill a hole with a "problem" coin, as it would likely be priced at a bargain price, not unlike today. However, today one is likely to find only a small discount on a damaged 1804 eagle, as their popularity is assured by their date and the fact that it ended the series, at least as far as it being the last date struck. It was not the last variety struck, however, as BD-6 of 1803, an extremely rare Large Star Reverse variety was struck after the 1804 Crosslet 4 examples. They share a common reverse die with all known examples of BD-6 of 1803 having a later state of this reverse die than BD-1 of 1804.

Now we come to the real rarity of 1804 – the presentation Proof strikings of 1804 eagle, BD-2 Plain 4. Previously, it was believed that the dies for the 1804 Proof eagles were made at the same time as the 1801-04 bust dollar dies, circa 1834-5. However, the author proved otherwise with an article published in Coin World (ANA 2006 issue).

The bust dollar dies have beaded dentils and lips to produce rims, while the 1804 Plain 4 eagle is struck from the pre-1828 style dies with tooth-like dentils that extend to the edge of the die. There is no lip on the die to produce the rim. Readers are referred to that article for a more detailed explanation of this conclusion. However, in the article, it was speculated that the reverse die was a leftover eagle die from the 1803-04 era. It was a leftover die, but it has recently been proven to be a half dollar die, which was produced in 1805-06!

Researchers Bill Nyberg and Bryce Brown have articles in the John Reich Journal (Volume 18/ Issue 2, June 2007) that prove that conclusion. As previously mentioned, the Brown article's focus is the dentil count on early half dollars. In doing research, he found that some half dollar obverse and reverse dies (1805-07) had 153 identically placed dentils, indicating that the master die had these applied in its making. These were transferred to the working obverse and reverse hubs and each working die from these have identical positioning of their dentils in relation to the devices. The date and lettering were still added to each working die by hand, so these vary.

The Nyberg article shows that not only the lettering and numerals were common to half dollar and eagle dies. The reverse eagle master die was the same for both denominations. Just as with quarter eagles and dimes, the half dollar and eagle dies could have been cross-used, but no issues are known to exist with common reverse dies. However, the article proves that the 153-dentil die used on the Proof 1804 Plain 4 eagle is an unused half dollar reverse die from 1806 (or possibly produced in 1805).

With only three confirmed examples (a fourth is rumored and likely exists), the 1804 Proof eagle is the real King of the 1804 coinage. The 1804 dollar has garnered the spotlight and the accolades over the years, but the eagle is four to five times rarer. If one considers only the Original 1804 dollars (eight known), the eagle is still twice as rare.

Publicity does a lot for popularity and no one can argue that the 1804 silver dollar is one of the most promoted coins in American numismatics. It is just not the rarest issue of 1804. In fact, it may only be the third-rarest issue of the year, as the 13-Star Reverse quarter eagle might be slightly rarer than the dollar!