STACK CLASS III 1804 DOLLAR BRINGS $6 MILLION

 

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.

"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."

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STACKS BOWERS: UNPUBLISHED 1804 DOLLAR (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n33a09.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web