After months of anticipation and speculation, on December 9 Stack's Bowers Galleries auctioneerChris Ortega finally dropped the gavel on the newly discovered James A. Stack, Sr. Class III 1804 dollar, along withother rarities that have been off the market since before James A. Stack, Sr.'s death in 1951. Graded Proof-65(PCGS) with CAC and CMQ approval, the Stack 1804 dollar brought $6 million, surpassing pre-sale estimates andsetting a new world record for the issue. It nearly tripled the previous record for a Class III 1804 dollar of $2.3million, set in 2009. (All prices include a 20% buyer's fee.)

James A. Stack, Sr., a New York textile executive who was not related to the founders of the Stack's BowersGalleries firm, was an advanced collector of United States and world coins and currency. His wishes were that noneof his coins be sold until his youngest grandchild at the time of his death turned 25. The first of the James A. Stack,Sr. sales was conducted by Stack's in 1975, with several more sales held through the 1980s and 1990s. AnotherJames A. Stack, Sr. sale will be conducted by Stack's Bowers Galleries in February 2026.

"The excitement that has surged through the numismatic community these last several months since we announcedthe discovery of additional coins from the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection has been unlike anything I've ever seen,"noted Stack's Bowers Galleries President Brian Kendrella. "Our team worked hard through every part of theirprocess, and their efforts resulted in new world records throughout the sale."

The December 2025 Part I sale included dollars and double eagles, along with a few miscellaneous issues. A secondoffering in February 2026 will include further highlights of historic importance, ranging from gold dollars througheagles, as well as the superb James A. Stack, Sr. collection of territorial gold.

The discovery of the James A. Stack, Sr. 1804 dollar sent shockwaves through American numismatics, adding a 16thexample to the census of known examples that had remained unchanged since the 1962 rediscovery of the King ofSiam specimen. Thought by Stack's Bowers Galleries' cataloger John Kraljevich and independent researchers JohnDannreuther and Craig Sholley to have likely been owned by former Mint Director A. Loudon Snowden, the JamesA. Stack, Sr. 1804 dollar is the finest Class III 1804 dollar in private hands by a significant margin and the only oneto have ever received CAC or CMQ approval. The sole 1804 dollar to have ever brought more is the finest knownClass I 1804 dollar, the Proof-68 (PCGS) Sultan of Muscat specimen that brought $7.68 million in Stack's BowersGalleries' sale of August 2021. The new record-setting price realized for the Stack 1804 dollar places it as the ninthhighest price ever realized for a rare coin, including two different offerings of the only privately held 1933 $20.Among United States Federal coins, only six coins have ever sold for more.

"It's been an absolute honor to work with the descendants of James A. Stack, Sr. these last couple years inshepherding their amazing family legacy into the hands of eager collectors," noted Vicken Yegparian, ExecutiveVice President of Stack's Bowers Galleries. "It's a testament to the connoisseurship of James A. Stack, Sr. and theconnoisseurship of our bidders today that the best coins brought such strong prices."

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
STACKS BOWERS: UNPUBLISHED 1804 DOLLAR(https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n33a09.html)