Joel Orosz, Len Augsburger (2020)
Multi-Media Summary
In August 1962, at the Detroit ANA convention, the King of Siam set was first revealed to the public. This discovery led researchers to the origin of the 1804 dollar, which at that time remained a matter of longstanding speculation. The King of Siam set demonstrated that these coins were first struck in the 1830s as diplomatic gifts. Separately, Eric P. Newman and Ken Bressett had been working on The Fantastic 1804 Dollar and intended to release copies of the book at the same ANA convention. When David Spink and James Risk announced the startling discovery of the King of Siam set, Ken Bressett immediately dispatched a "stop the presses" call to Whitman Publishing. The book was quickly revised, but a small number of the first printing survived, and these today are avidly collected by numismatic bibliophiles. Presenting: Joel J. Orosz and Len Augsburger. This presentation was part of the 2020 Newman Numismatic Portal Sympsosium, held virtually, August 28-30, 2020.
