Convention Commotion, and 1804 Dollars

Anyone questioning the draw of the ANA convention might do well to track the major announcements made around the time of the annual ANA gathering. Stacks Bowers set the bar high this year, with their "reveal" of the 16th known 1804 dollar, a class III example from the James A. Stack collection. This recalls the unveiling of the King of Siam set at the 1962 ANA convention. To set the scene, Eric Newman had condemned, at the previous year's convention, the 1804 and 1805 dollars in the Ostheimer collection.

The September 4, 1961 Numismatic News described the mood of the room prior to Newman's presentation: "There was an air of expectation as Newman started to deliver his talk, his lectures have always been educational and entertaining. However, this evening the audience expected more, but very few realized the full impact that big speech would have. When he finished giving a detailed description on how these coins were fabricated and the complete story behind the fabrication, the audience surged forward to the stage to congratulate him and surrounded him for almost an hour after the lecture bombarding him with questions. Within a very few minutes after the lecture was over the word of his revelations had buzzed through the entire convention headquarters."

The following year, the 1962 ANA convention was supposed to represent somewhat of a victory lap for Newman and his co-author Ken Bressett, with the formal release of their book The Fantastic 1804 Dollar. Instead, David Spink and James Risk revealed the previously unknown King of Siam set, which caused Bressett to issue the now legendary "stop the presses" call to Whitman headquarters, then in Racine, WI. John J. Ford, Jr. wondered about the timing of the Spink/Risk presentation. "The Spink deal re the 1834 Presentation set has me confused," he wrote to Newman on August 30. "Apparently, he knew about the existence of the set for some time...why didn't he give you the dope so that your book could have been changed to suit?" Regardless of the timing, Bressett and Newman carefully worked through a set of edits to incorporate the new discovery and released the book in due course.

Closing the loop on the recent announcement of the Stack 1804 dollar, it was pleasing to learn that Bressett played a role in the investigation. The ANA Reading Room quoted Bressett on August 14. "I have been fully involved with others in the effort to find records or information about the existence of this remarkable discovery," said Bressett. "After searching through reams of data that I have on the subject, I concluded that there is no previous record of its existence."

Image: extract of August 30, 1962 letter from John J. Ford, Jr. to Eric P. Newman

Link to John J. Ford letter to Newman, August 30, 1962:
https://archive.org/details/1804corresp1962epn1962/page/n17/mode/2up

Link to Eric P. Newman research files on the 1804 dollar:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/archivedetail/536418

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
BOOK REVIEW: THE TYRANT COLLECTION(https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n46a05.html)
(STACKS BOWERS: UNPUBLISHED 1804 DOLLAR)
(NEWMAN PORTAL: The First ANA Convention)

See also:
https://www.thetyrantcollection.com/the-king-of-siam-set/