Electrotype 1804 Draped Bust Silver Dollar. Joined Copper Shells, Silvered. Class II. Type as BB-305. Choice Extremely Fine (Uncertified). 285.8 grains. Plain edge, with traces of the seam visible in several places. Mostly light silver-gray on both sides, though the recesses and field areas most protected by the design features have toned deep gray. A few specks of similar toning are noted in the fields and there is some loss of the silvering on the highest points of the design where traces of the underlying copper show through. A few trivial hairlines are noted, and an old scratch passes through the letter U in UNITED, extending to the rim at the lower right of the eagles tail feathers. The reverse is stamped COPY beneath the eagles talon holding the olive branch.<p>While copies and forgeries of 1804 silver dollars abound, there are a few such pieces that are indeed quite historic and valuable. Unfortunately, collectors are quick to cast them all under the "forgery" aegis, but this one is very different from most seen as it was made at the Philadelphia Mint. It is therefore an official product, to a degree, though certainly not intended as circulating coin or even within the normal boundaries of expected official Mint business. It is believed to be one of three or four examples known today, according to the 1993 Bowers-Borckardt silver dollar reference. We know that it was mint-made because it is a copy of the unique Class II 1804 silver dollar, which was struck circa 1858-1859 over a Swiss shooting taler, and was retained for the Mint Cabinet. From there, it transferred to the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian, so it has never been beyond the control of the U.S. Government. The original struck specimen conveniently shows evidence of its undertype, and some of those elements are visible on this piece, appearing almost as a secondary set of flattened dentils within the rim of the dollar.<p>It is unclear exactly when the Mint electrotypes were made, but it is said to have been acquired by Dr. Spiers, a California collector, from W.E. DuBois at the mint, in 1860. According to the New Netherlands sale #53 catalog where this piece first appeared at auction, the Spiers Collection was bequeathed to the society of California Pioneers and was later dispersed, circa 1906. Waldo Newcomer acquired this piece at that time and eventually left it to his son from whom Philip G. Straus acquired it. The New Netherlands sale included property from the Straus collection, including this piece, which was plated.<p>By 1913, any general awareness of the circumstances behind these pieces that might have been known to collectors at the time of their manufacture and distribution had apparently fallen into the shadows, as Edgar Adams and William Woodin erroneously cataloged one of these as a pattern coin. According to Eric Newman and Ken Bressetts book, <em>The Fantastic 1804 Dollar</em>, this error was realized by Dr. Judd who delisted it as an experimental piece and did not include it in his own landmark reference on the subject.<p>Though PCGS has maintained its policy of not grading electrotypes, this piece is listed in the <em>Guide Book of United States Coins</em>, where it is noted that four are known, and it has been written about by Wayte Raymond, Don Taxay, Bowers and Borckardt, Newman and Bressett, and by the catalogers of Heritage and the Goldbergs. It has thus widely been acknowledged as a product of the United States Mint at Philadelphia.<p>While an original struck 1804 dollar of any Class is considered the "King of American Coins", it is also an object that only a few collectors will ever see in person, let alone enter into their own collections. This piece was made in the same place, at roughly the same time, and perhaps even by the same hands as the Class II and Class III dollars of this famous date, and as such it is an important part of the story of the 1804 silver dollars and an exciting opportunity. From the Legacy Collection. Earlier ex United States Mint at Philadelphia, in the care of W.E. Dubois; Dr. Spiers, a California collector; Society of California Pioneers; Waldo Newcomer; New Netherlands sale of the Philip G. Straus Collection, 53rd Sale, June 1959, lot 1750; Heritages CSNS Signature Auction of April 2002, lot 6715, where it went unsold with a $65,000 reserve; Ira & Larry Goldbergs Pre-Long Beach Auction of September 2016, lot 776; our ANA Auction of August 2019, lot 5240; Heritages CSNS Signature Auction of May 2022, lot 3794.
