Restrikes. There were struck at the Mint in 1858 restrikes with plain edges, of which three were recovered after diligent search; two of these were destroyed in the Mint, and the other placed in the Cabinet, where it remains. The difference between these and the originals are as follows: obverse, the original die was re-cut in the word Liberty, the stars and date, which made them larger and deeper, especially noticeable in the stars, which are broadened; also in the date, it making the outline sharp and square, whereas in the originals they are somewhat rounded; reverse, not having the original die, they used another, which differs in many respects, most easily noticeable in that the A touches the eagle’s claw, the OF much nearer of the end of eagle’s wing than S in States (in the original it is equally spaced); edge, plain; weight, 381.5 grains. One specimen is in the Mint and another in England,—struck between 1860 and 1869, as in the latter year all dies remaining were destroyed, same as the above, but endeavors were made to letter the edges in the absence of a complete collar by using pieces of collars which did not contain all the letters, but repeated some of them several times. There was one of these pieces sold in the Berg collection in 1883 for $740, and showed all the peculiarities mentioned, and its weight was said to be inaccurate. The dies were destroyed in the winter of 1868-69. No counterfeit dies of the 1804 dollar were ever made. After the close of each year all dies are now destroyed.
Double Eagle.
Among the rare coins in the Cabinet at the Mint is a Double Eagle. The dies for this piece were made in 1849, and only one was struck. “Unique” and beyond price. There is also a Quarter Eagle of 1842, and the only one known extant at the Mint.
SELECTIONS.
Having referred many times to this case, it may be as well to append the entire list of its contents, as they, almost without exception, are rare, spanning the world from remotest antiquity to the present day, beginning with the gold Daric of Darius, and ending with the twenty-mark piece of Kaiser William.
Greece.
1. Four drachma, Athens, B. C. 500; 2. Oboloi of Athens; 3. One-half obolos, 1⅓ of a cent; 4. Daric, Darius, of Persia, B. C. 520, value, five dollars and fifty cents; 5. Silver Daric; 6. Brass Ob. Berenice, B. C. 284; 7. Ptolemy and Berenice, copy; 8. Maneh of Ptolemy Philadelphus, B. C. 284, value, $17.70; 9. Drachma, Cyrene, B. C. 322; 10. Coin of Syracuse, copy, about B. C. 300; 11. Silver coin, Bactria, B. C. 126; 12. Brass of Bactria, B. C. 180; 13. Cleopatra, B. C. 30; 13a. Denarius of Cleopatra and Mark Antony; 14. Alexander the Great, B. C. 36; 15. Philip, B. C. 323; 16. Stater of Seleucus; 17. Alexander Balas, B. C. 150; 18. Antiochus VI; 19. Philip, King of Syria, B. C. 93.
Rome.
20. Roman aes, B. C. 500; 21. Denarius of Augustus, B. C. 31; 22. Tiberius, A. D. 14; 23. Simon, Bar Cochab, false Christ, A. D. 133; 24. Vespasian, A. D. 49; 25. Gold bezants, A. D. 610; 26. Justinian, A. D. 527; 26a. Kingdom of Cyprus and Jerusalem, Peter 1, 1361 to 1372, testoon, Kingdom of Jerusalem; 26b. Amaury II., 1194 to 1205.