For every numismatist alive today, there was never a time when there wasn't 15 known 1804 dollars. The numbers have been carved in stone: eight known Class I dollars, a single overstruck Class II in the National Numismatic Collection, and six known Class III dollars, of which three are permanently impounded.

When Stack's Bowers Galleries sells highlights from the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection this coming December, a 16th known specimen will find its first new home since Stack's passing in 1951. Graded PCGS Proof-65 (CAC)(CMQ), it is far and away the finest of the Class III examples in private hands. It is also the only 1804 dollar of any type to have received CAC or CMQ approval. No Class III 1804 dollar has sold at auction since our offering of the Berg-Garrett-Pogue example in March 2020, and no 1804 dollar of any kind has sold since August 2021, when we sold the finest known Class I 1804 dollar, the Childs-Pogue specimen, for a world record price for the issue of $7.68 million.

James A. Stack, Sr. aggressively worked to acquire connoisseur quality rare coins during the era he collected, from the late 1930s until his passing in 1951. Though he had a residence on Long Island, Mr. Stack (no relation to the founders of our firm) spent most of his time working in Manhattan and living in a Midtown apartment. He made the best of his ready access to Stack's store, first on 6th Avenue and later on West 46th Street, purchasing superb examples of rare U.S. coins of every composition and era.

While the man himself has remained a somewhat obscure character despite his numismatic importance, his collection is well known to those who collect the finest. Stack's has sold portions of the collection over the years, including important quarters and halves in 1975, and a wide variety of important material offered in several sales in the 1980s and 1990s.

No American coin has been more thoroughly researched and published than the 1804 dollar, including book-length studies by legendary numismatists Eric P. Newman and Kenneth E. Bressett (The Fantastic 1804 Dollar, 1962) and Q. David Bowers (The Rare Silver Dollars Dated 1804 and the Exciting Adventures of Edmund Roberts, 1999). Despite a battery of articles, catalogue descriptions, and more, no numismatic expert had any indication of the James A. Stack, Sr. coin until the piece was consigned to Stack's Bowers Galleries for auction.

"Every professional numismatist has received innumerable wishful phone calls about 1804 dollars over the course of their career, and every single one has been easy to dismiss," noted Stack's Bowers Galleries Director of Numismatic Americana John Kraljevich. "This piece took us all by surprise. It carries its own credentials with all the distinctive striking details we would expect of an 1804 Class III but all of the eye appeal we associate with the best of the Class I dollars."

Stack's Bowers Galleries Executive Vice President Vicken Yegparian added "the James A. Stack, Sr. name has long been associated with the very finest coins, and past offerings have been highlights of our firm's 90 years of auction sales. While this coin is a surprise to us all, no one is surprised that Mr. Stack would have owned a coin like this - or that he would have done so quietly."

Research on the coin continues, along with a fine PCGS EF-45 (CAC)(CMQ) 1794 dollar, a PCGS MS-64 (CAC)(CMQ) 1795 Flowing Hair dollar, and other important early American rarities to be offered from the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection. The 1804 and other early dollars will be joined by a phenomenal array of double eagles for the first auction of the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection on December 9, 2025 in Griffin Studios.

Highlights from the collection, including the 1804 dollar, will be on display at the American Numismatic Association's World's Fair of Money from August 19-23, 2025, as well as at other shows in the future.

Please visit https://stacksbowers.com/the-james-a-stack-sr-collection/ or contact Vicken Yegparian (vy@stacksbowers.com) for additional information about the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
https://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n04a12.html(https://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n04a12.html)