It is reported that the Government of China possesses a previously, unknown unique U.S. silver coin! The Chinese Foreign Ministry has not provided all details regarding the supposedly unique piece, but has announced the existence of heretofore unheard of historical documents that relate to U.S. silver dollars from the 1830s.

It is already widely accepted that Proof Sets of U.S. copper, silver and gold coins were produced as diplomatic gifts during 1834 and/or 1835. These sets were prepared under the direct orders of President Andrew Jackson. All the coins included were dated 1834 except the 1804 silver dollar and the 1804 Eagle ($10 gold coin). U.S. Mint officials wrongly believed that there was a need to depict the date of the last year in which coins of these two denominations were actually minted for circulation. (Silver dollars struck in 1804 were dated 1803.)

The famous ‘King of Siam’ Proof set was presented in Thailand by an envoy of the U.S. Government, Edmund Roberts. Siam is the traditional name for Thailand. Another set was given to the Emperor of Oman. Sets were earmarked, though not delivered, to the Emperors of Vietnam and Japan, respectively. Vietnam then had a much different name in English. Oman had a slightly different name.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry now indicates that historical documents demonstrate that the Chinese Emperor, by the middle of 1835, learned that U.S. Proof sets were being brought as gifts to other Asian chiefs of state. The Chinese Emperor knew of all four intended recipients.

Chinese Emperor Xuanzong was born in 1782. He became the ‘Daoguang Emperor‘ in 1820 and ruled until his death in 1850. The Emperor and most ranking Chinese officials were very familiar with silver coins and were often focused on silver in general. Silver was their medium of exchange.

During the 19th century, large quantities of silver flowed into China daily. With so many silver coins arriving continually, as payments for goods and services, thousands of Chinese had access to foreign silver coins and many of them became coin collectors. Only a small percentage of the silver coins that arrived in China came from the United States. Sophisticated Chinese officials often built coin collections by substituting or trading common silver coins for scarce and rare dates that they needed for their respective collections. Essentially, rare coins were available for just their silver bullion content.

In the 1830s, there were many more coin collectors in China than in the United States. Chinese collectors wondered about the existence of an 1804 U.S. silver dollar. It was later to become, and still is, the most famous coin in the United States. Of course, when the Daoguang Emperor (Xuanzong) learned that other Asian Emperors were to receive U.S. 1804 dollars, he was infuriated.

Chinese Emperor Xuanzong had been thinking about establishing trading relations with the U.S. The decision had already been made, in 1834, to end the foreign trading monopoly that had, for decades, been granted by the Chinese Government to the British East India Company. Historical documents are said to show that the Chinese Emperor was certain that President Andrew Jackson was aware that this exclusive arrangement with the British was about to end. Further, Chinese Emperor Xuanzong felt personally spited that the American President would not send him a Proof set first, with a pristine 1804 dollar, as part of a request for a trading relationship with China. Emperor Xuanzong was shocked that Jackson would prefer trading relationships with Vietnam and Thailand.

Chinese Emperor Xuanzong was even more puzzled that a Proof set was to be given to the Japanese Emperor, who was hostile to the West and pursued extremely isolationist policies. Indeed, the potential gains to be had from a direct trading relationship between China and the U.S. were obvious. The very idea that President Jackson would send rare coins, including an 1804 dollar, to other Asian Emperors was so upsetting to the Chinese Emperor that Xuanzong ranted and raved about it for weeks.

Li Cheng, a high ranking Chinese official, kept a journal which included statements made in his presence by the Emperor. In Nov. 1835, the Emperor exclaimed, “Ming Manh [the Vietnamese emperor] is not a true Emperor and does not deserve great coins.” Moreover, the Chinese emperor declared that the “fool on the throne in Siam doesn’t know gold from copper, or silver from tin … It is an outrage that the American leader gave him a special set of rare coins!”

In this same year, under diplomatic seal, a very threatening letter was sent by the Chinese Government to President Andrew Jackson. Though unsigned, Chinese officials now suggest that this 1835 letter “obviously conveyed the views of the Emperor himself.” This letter was not included in the collection of the official papers of the Jackson administration, and, presumably, was destroyed under Jackson’s direct orders. It would have been a political disaster for Jackson, whose administration faced hostile criticism for a multitude of other reasons. Besides, President Jackson would not have wished for the public to know that he missed an important opportunity in foreign affairs.

Jackson replied to the Chinese Emperor in July 1836. The Chinese Government has decided to declassify the original, and they hint that they will release it to the media. Jackson’s letter is said to have been accompanied by a coin, which seems to be a Proof 1805 Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle Silver Dollar!

According to reports, this 1805 dollar was placed in a special case with an inscription from President Jackson to Chinese Emperor Xuanzong. President Jackson is said to have promised that the 1805 silver dollar is unique and that another would never be made. If so, this promise was evidently kept.

As there are only nine 1870-S dollars known, it was previously thought that the 1870-S is the rarest U.S. silver dollar. Including three varieties, there are fifteen 1804 dollars. Now, the lone 1805, if it is real, is the rarest U.S. silver dollar; it is one of only four unique U.S. coins outside of the Smithsonian.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in Beijing, announced that this unique 1805 silver dollar will be auctioned. A source suggests that the event will probably occur in Hong Kong in September. Bids will only be accepted in Euros.

Professor David Jones, a specialist in Chinese history at the University of Brighton-Greene, has expressed an opinion that “Jackson’s failure to send an 1804 dollar to the Chinese Emperor may have greatly affected the Chinese Emperor’s decision not to reach out to the U.S. after the decision was made to end China’s exclusive relationship with the British East India Company in 1834. Had an 1804 dollar been delivered to Beijing in 1834, a special trading relationship between the U.S and China would probably have begun.” President Jackson’s decision to exclude the Chinese Emperor from the list of recipients of U.S. Proof sets, each including an 1804 dollar, may have had a detrimental effect on the history of the world.

If the U.S had established a close relationship with China in the 1830s, the U.S. may have later been better situated to provide assistance to the Chinese when the Japanese invaded China during World War II, and the U.S. might have been able to prevent Communist revolutionaries from triumphing in China after World War II ended.

A high level source suggests that the Chinese Government will submit the unique 1805 dollar for grading and encapsulation by the Professional Coin Grading Service. Chinese officials are embarrassed that criminals in their own nation are producing counterfeit PCGS holders. Submitting this historically important coin to the PCGS seems fair, efficient and appropriate. Certainly, a Gem Proof 1805 U.S. silver dollar would bring the equivalent of more than twelve million U.S. dollars at auction!

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Happy April Fools Day!
The above-story is fiction. It is not intended to contain criticism of President Jackson, Emperor Xuanzong, or any other government official, living or dead. All quoted statements above are fabricated. As far as I know, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has not issued any statement regarding a rare U.S. coin, nor about U.S. Proof Sets from the 1830s. Likewise, I am not aware of a Professor David Jones who is a specialist in Chinese history. If anyone named Jones has ever made a statement that bears resemblance to my fictional quote in the story, it is just a coincidence.

A political argument is neither expressed nor implied. It is not suggested that the Chinese Government possesses any rare U.S. coins. Indeed, this story is a joke. It is VERY UNLIKELY that a genuine 1805 U.S. silver dollar exists.

©2008 Greg Reynolds