 The fact that no 1804 dollars were struck in 1804 was not widely accepted by numismatists until the early twentieth century . Before such time , the actual year in which they were struck remained contentious among numismatists . Early on , collectors assumed that the 1804 dollars were struck in 1804 , and their rarity was explained by various theories . The bulk of the mintage was variously rumored to have been paid to Barbary pirates as ransom , lost at sea en route to China , and melted before leaving the Philadelphia Mint . In 1867 , numismatist W. Elliot Woodward acknowledged that 1804 dollars were struck as diplomatic gifts in 1834 , but he also believed that others were struck in 1804 . Numismatists Lyman H. Low and William T. R. Marvin , writing for the American Journal of Numismatics in 1899 , stated that " the journal confidently asserts that there is no dollar dated 1804 which was struck in that year by the U.S. Mint . " In 1891 , numismatist John A. <unk> wrote that the Class I 1804 dollars were " without doubt coined in 1804 " . In 1905 , he recanted his earlier assertions , stating that " no one now believes that they were coined in 1804 . " 
