The famous 1804 restrike dollar made by the mint for sale to collectors. Mint officials realized early on that there was money to be made by restriking various rarities. The 1804 Dollar is one of the most famous coins in the world. Originals were actually made in 1834 for inclusion in presentation proof sets which were being distributed by envoys in southeast asia. Collector demand by the 1850s resulted in the creation of these restrikes circa 1858-1860. They were struck using the original obverse die combined with a new reverse apparently in plain edges collars. The Smithsonian's type II is the only example still existing with a plain edge. That particular example was overstruck on an 1857 Swiss Shooting Taler. They also caused a furor in the collecting world causing the mint to recover them. Readers are invited to read pages 354-357 of Dave Bowers book "The Rare Dollars of 1804". It is believed that the coins were then either destroyed or locked away only to resurface with their edges lettered years later. It seems likely that at least a few of these were struck later than 1858 timeframe. Only 2 of these, the Linderman and Idler examples, and apparently struck on standard 412 grain silver dollar stock, are choice. The others, with the exception of the Garrett coin, were apparently struck on 420 grain trade dollar planchets which were then intentionally rubbed down to 416 grains to make them appear circulated and thus more "original". The first appearances of the restrikes was via John W. Haseltine in the mid-1870s. Only 7 examples, including the plain edge overstruck coin in the Smithsonian, are known. The illustrated example is the former Linderman-Dupont example now also in the Smithsonian. The photo is courtesy of the Museum of the American Numismatic Association.