After months of anticipation and speculation, on December 9, Stack’s Bowers Galleries auctioneer Chris Ortega finally dropped the gavel on the newly discovered James A. Stack, Sr. Class III 1804 dollar, along with other 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 and setting a new world record for the issue. It nearly tripled the previous record for a Class III 1804 dollar of $2.3 million, 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 Bowers Galleries firm, was an advanced collector of United States and world coins and currency. His wishes were that none of 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. Another James 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 announced the 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 their process, 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 second offering in February 2026 will include further highlights of historic importance, ranging from gold dollars through eagles, 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 16th example to the census of known examples that had remained unchanged since the 1962 rediscovery of the King of Siam specimen. Thought by Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ cataloger John Kraljevich and independent researchers John Dannreuther and Craig Sholley to have likely been owned by former Mint Director A. Loudon Snowden, the James A. Stack, Sr. 1804 dollar is the finest Class III 1804 dollar in private hands by a significant margin and the only one to have ever received CAC or CMQ approval. The sole 1804 dollar to have ever brought more is the finest known Class I 1804 dollar, the Proof-68 (PCGS) Sultan of Muscat specimen that brought $7.68 million in Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ sale of August 2021. The new record-setting price realized for the Stack 1804 dollar places it as the ninth highest 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.
A total of 54 lots sold in Session 1 of the December 9 James A. Stack, Sr. auction, bringing $14,818,200 and an average price of over $200,000. The next highest realization after the 1804 dollar was $1,020,00 for the James A. Stack, Sr. 1794 dollar, graded EF-45 (PCGS) CAC CMQ. The price wildly surpassed pre-sale expectations and set a new world record for any 1794 dollar graded below Mint State. For reference, an EF-40 (PCGS) CAC example sold by another auction firm in May 2025 brought $384,000 and the PCGS Price Guide suggests a value of $600,000 for an EF-45.
Two Proof Type I Liberty $20s found new homes at $900,000 each. The 1854 $20, graded Proof-61 (PCGS) CMQ, is thought to be the sole example of the earliest date of Proof double eagle in private hands. The 1859 $20, graded Proof-64 DCAM (PCGS) CAC CMQ-X, was acquired by Stack in the October 1947 Stack’s sale of the “H.R. Lee” Collection, composed of Louis Eliasberg’s duplicates. An 1893 $20 in Proof-66 DCAM (PCGS) CAC brought $720,000, obliterating the former record for the issue ($408,000, set in May 2024). A Proof 1867 $20, graded Proof-64+ DCAM (PCGS) CAC, CMQ-X, more than doubled the previous auction record of $276,000 when it sold for $660,000. Proof double eagles from 1883 and 1891, graded Proof-65 DCAM (PCGS) CAC, CMQ and Proof-66 DCAM (PCGS) CAC, CMQ-X, respectively, both surpassed the $400,000 mark, with the 1883 bringing $408,000 and the 1891 selling at $480,000. Circulation strike double eagles were led by an EF-40 (PCGS) example of the very rare 1856-O that realized $312,000. That price was matched by a 1931 Saint Gaudens $20 in MS-65 (PCGS) CAC, CMQ. A 1932 Saint brought $162,000; it was graded PCGS MS-64 with CAC and CMQ approval.
Though only six early dollars were included in the session, they were all coins of great significance and value. In addition to the 1804 and 1794 dollars already mentioned, a choice MS-64 (PCGS) CAC, CMQ 1795 BB-27 Flowing Hair dollar, last sold in a 1948 B. Max Mehl sale, brought $600,000. A dramatically toned 1800 BB-190 in MS-62+ (PCGS) CAC, CMQ-X surpassed all expectations and set a record at $264,000; a PCGS MS-63 BB-190 brought $57,600 in another firm’s sale last year, and the record for any 1800 dollar was formerly $223,250, paid in 2013 for the Eric Newman MS-65 (NGC) 1800 AMERICAI BB-192. A 1797 Small Eagle BB-73, graded AU-58 (PCGS) CAC, sold for $192,000, tripling presale estimates. Stack had paid $72.50 for the coin in 1947. He paid $75 for the 1795 BB-27 the following year, while the 1800 BB-190 cost Mr. Stack $30 sometime in the 1940s.
The originality and eye appeal of the Proof Morgan dollars from the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection sent them into the stratosphere. An 1883 in Proof-66 CAM (PCGS) CAC brought $45,600, a new record price for the issue in any grade (including Proof-67 and Proof-68 coins) and a sum that far surpassed pre-sale estimates.
“It’s been an absolute honor to work with the descendants of James A. Stack, Sr. these last couple years in shepherding their amazing family legacy into the hands of eager collectors,” noted Vicken Yegparian, Executive Vice President of Stack’s Bowers Galleries. “It’s a testament to the connoisseurship of James A. Stack, Sr. and the connoisseurship of our bidders today that the best coins brought such strong prices.”
Complete results for the Stack’s Bowers Galleries December 2025 Showcase Auction are available at StacksBowers.com. For more information about The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection Part I or to consign to an upcoming auction, contact the firm by calling 800-458-4646 or by emailing info@stacksbowers.com.
About Stack’s Bowers Galleries
Stack’s Bowers Galleries conducts live, internet and specialized auctions of rare U.S. and world coins and currency and ancient coins, as well as direct sales through retail and wholesale channels. The company’s 90+ year legacy includes the cataloging and sale of many of the most valuable United States coin and currency collections to ever cross an auction block: The D. Brent Pogue Collection, The John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, The Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, The Joel R. Anderson Collection, The Norweb Collection, The Cardinal Collection, The Sydney F. Martin Collection and The Battle Born Collection, to name just a few.
World coin and currency collections include The Pinnacle Collection, The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection of World Gold Coins, The Kroisos Collection, The Alicia and Sidney Belzberg Collection, The Salton Collection, The Wa She Wong Collection, the Augustana Collection of gold rarities from across western Europe, the Richard Margolis Collection of world coins and medals and The Thos. H. Law Collection. Recently the firm was awarded the privilege of bringing the most valuable world coin collection to auction, the L. E. Bruun Collection.
Stack’s Bowers Galleries is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, which is also the location of Griffin Studios, the firm’s custom-built, broadcast-ready auction and event facility. In addition, the company has galleries in New York, Boston, Miami, and Philadelphia, as well as offices in New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Paris and Vancouver. Stack’s Bowers Galleries hosts a Global Showcase each summer as an Event Auctioneer Partner of the ANA World’s Fair of Money, a sale that features United States coins and currency, Ancient coins and World coins and currency. They are also the Official Auctioneer for several important numismatic events, including the New York International Numismatic Convention, the Whitman Spring, Summer and Winter Expos, the Spring and Fall Hong Kong shows and the Maastricht Paper Money shows.
