Market Analysis: An ‘affordable’ 1804 dollar
- Published: Aug 17, 2022, 9 AM

Although any genuine 1804 Draped Bust silver dollar is going to cost seven figures, a 19th century electrotype replica is a more affordable option.
Heritage offered an uncertified representative produced at the Philadelphia Mint around 1860, “using the then-current electrotyping process that many official institutions, such as the British Museum, used to produce reproductions of significant rarities.”
This one is modeled after the unique Class II 1804 dollar that was part of the U.S. Mint’s cabinet and is now housed at the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. The two copper shells were joined and silvered, to resemble an 1804 dollar. It was even widely considered a copper die trial in the early 20th century. Cataloged as one of just four known examples of this Philadelphia Mint electrotype, it sold for $21,600 on May 6.
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