Magnificent Unpublished 1804 Dollar Highlights James A. Stack, Sr. Collection
Finest Class III Example in Private Hands Graded Proof-65 (PCGS) CAC. CMQ.
The Only CAC Approved 1804 Dollar of any Class
By Stack’s Bowers Galleries
Costa Mesa, CA – 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
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.
The company is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, with galleries in New York, Boston, Miami, and Philadelphia. Offices are also located in New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Sacramento, Virginia, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Paris and Vancouver. Stack’s Bowers Galleries hosts an annual Global Showcase in August featuring United States coins and currency, Ancient coins and World coins and currency in its Costa Mesa auction gallery. 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.
