Q. David Bowers
Commemorating: Erection of a statue of Lafayette in Paris in connection with the 1900
Paris Exposition
Obverse motif: Portraits of Lafayette and Washington Reverse motif: Statue of Lafayette on horseback
Authorization date: March 3, 1899
Date on coins: 1900 (actually, the date of the statue's intended erection in Paris) Date when coins were actually minted: December 14, 1899
Mint used: Philadelphia
Maximum quantity authorized: 50,000
Total quantity minted (including assay coins): 50,026 Assay coins (included in above): 26
Quantity melted: 14,000
Net number distributed (including assay coins): 36,026
Issued by: Lafayette Memorial Commission through the American Trust & Savings Bank of Chicago, Illinois
Standard original packaging: Coins were mailed in large manila envelopes bearing return address of OFFICE OF COMMISSIONER-GENERAL FOR THE UNITED STATES TO THE PARIS EXPOSITION OF 1900. LAFAYETTE MEMORIAL COMMISSION. CHICAGO. with certification that the envelope contained a certain number of Lafayette dollars. Such certification appears in the lower left corner and is signed by two individuals (appearing to be M.W. Buckley and A.W. Clark), most likely employees and not Commission members
Official sale price: $2
Designer of obverse and reverse: Charles E. Barber
Interesting facts: Struck the year before the date appearing on the coin, on December 14, 1899, the 100th anniversary of Washington's death; Lafayette and Washington pictured on obverse, Lafayette on horseback on reverse, thus the first U.S. coin with the same person depicted twice on the same coin; first commemorative silver dollar; first depiction of a president on a publicly distributed legal tender U.S. coin.
1900 Lafayette Memorial Silver Dollar
(average market prices)
1905 MS-60 to 63 $1.25-$2
1910 MS-60 to 63 $1.50
1915 MS-60 to 63 $1.75
1920 MS-60 to 63 $2.50
1925 MS-60 to 63 $3
1930 MS-60 to 63 $3.50
1935 MS-60 to 63 $4
1936 (summer) MS-60 to 63 $5
1940 MS-60 to 63 $4
1945 MS-60 to 63 $12
1950 MS-60 $13
1955 MS-60 $35
1960 MS-60 $55
1965 MS-60 $155
1970 MS-60 $190
1975 MS-60 $650
1980 MS-60 $8,000
1985 MS-60 $4,500
1986 MS-60 $975, MS-63 $2,300, MS-64 $4,000, MS-65 $11,000
1990 (spring) MS-60 $725, MS-63 $2,450, MS-64 $6,300, MS-65 $19,500
1990 (December) MS-60 $625, MS-63 $1,550, MS-64 $4,400, MS-65 $8,700
Notes: The average coin advertised as "Brilliant Uncirculated" as recently as the 1950s and 1960s was apt to be what we designate as AU-58 to MS-60 today. In the June 1919 issue of The Numismatist, Henry Chapman advertised an Uncirculated piece for $2.25 and one described as "perfection" for $3, an unusual instance of early differentiation of quality within the Uncirculated grade.
The Continuing Story of Commemoratives
After the distribution of the Lafayette silver dollars, little interest on the national or legislative scene was evidenced concerning silver commemoratives, and the subject lay dormant for many years. In the meantime collectors desired examples of the various issues, which by this time numbered four: the 1892 and 1893 Columbian half dollars, the 1893 Isabella quarter, and the 1900 Lafayette dollar.
The performance of commemoratives was not satisfactory from an investment viewpoint, for by the year 1905 Columbian half dollars of 1892 and 1893 were available in Uncirculated grade for just a few cents over face value, as were 1900 Lafayette dollars, and 1893 Isabella quarters cost little more than their issue price of $1.
Up to this time no single individual in the numismatic field had championed the cause of commemoratives, and collectors could take or leave them as they preferred. Farran Zerbe, an entrepreneur and numismatist who became involved with the distribution of the 1903-dated Louisiana Purchase Exposition commemorative gold dollars, was to change this (refer to the commemorative gold section of the present book). Unfortunately for numismatic posterity, his attention was not directed to silver coins in the early years, so no additional silver commemorative varieties were produced until 1915. In the meantime several varieties of commemorative gold dollars were created.