Photos and descriptions used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries

It is currently not the most expensive American coin-merely the most famous. Heritage Auction Galleries has sold its first public offering of a Class I Original 1804 silver dollar, the Mickley-Hawn-Queller specimen at the CSNS Auction on April 16, 2008 for $3,737,500.00 (includes buyers premium).

Possessing a long and historic provenance that extends back to noted 19th century collector Joseph J. Mickley, this coin, graded PR62 by NGC, is one of eight Original Class I 1804 silver dollars known today. Of those eight coins, only five are in private collections, with the remainder in institutional holdings.

The Heritage offering marks the first time a Class I Original 1804 dollar has appeared at auction in nearly a decade, since the PR64 Dexter-Dunham example brought $1,840,000 in the year 2000.

The 1804 silver dollar has long been renowned as the “King of American Coins.” Well before such latter-day rarities as the 1913 Liberty nickels, the 1894-S Barber dimes, or the 1907 Ultra High Relief double eagles, the 1804 silver dollars were acknowledged as the most famous U.S. coins, yardsticks by which great American numismatic collections were measured.

A full review of Heritages CSNS auction will be forthcoming next week.