Q.David Bowers
On March 3rd of the latter year authority was given to the Board of Lady Managers of the Columbian Exposition to issue a special souvenir quarter dollar. The obverse depicted Queen Isabella, the reverse a kneeling woman. These pieces were offered at $1 each to the public. Most potential buyers thought that the Columbian half dollars, with the face value of 50c, were a better value at the sale price of $1 than were the lower denomination quarters, so only a small number of the Isabella pieces reached the hands of the public. For the next several years large quantities were available. 24,191 pieces were distributed, and about 15,000 were melted.
The next commemorative issue appeared in 1900 and was a special silver dollar bearing on the obverse the portraits of George Washington and General Lafayette. These coins, struck in December 1899 but bearing the 1900 date, were offered for sale by the Lafayette Memorial Commission at $2 each. Fifty thousand were coined, but only 36,000 were distributed, some long after the time of issue. A 1904 photograph of a Treasury vault shows bags of 1,000 pieces of 1900 Lafayette dollars still remaining in government hands. On the numismatic market 1afayette-dollars-dropped-in value from the $2 issue price to about $1.10 causing dissatisfaction among collectors. Isabella quarters, which had risen in value to about $1.50, dropped in value also, as quantities-including 400 in one single auction sale-s-came on the market. Following the 1900 Lafayette dollars, commemorative silver coins were limited to the half dollar denomination.
In 1903 the Louisiana Purchase Exposition opened in St. Louis. Announcements were made that 250,000 commemorative gold dollars would be struck for the event and offered at $3 each. Collectors reacted unfavorably to the news. The editor of The Numismatist suggested that readers would be well advised to save their money until later when the price would surely drop.
In an effort to broaden the sales appeal, gold dollars were made in two designs, one featuring the portrait of Jefferson and the other of McKinley. Two hundred and fifty thousand pieces were struck, but despite heroic sales efforts, including selling brooches and stick pins containing two or three coins each, only 35,000 examples escaped the melting pot, 17,500 of each variety. For years later quantities of these were in the hands of dealers who offered them for sale at special prices.
In 1904 and 1905 coins were issued for the Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition held in Portland, Oregon, during the latter year. Gold dollars of special commemorative design were made depicting Meriwether Lewis on the obverse and William Clark on the reverse. Designs were by Charles E. Barber. Mintage of the 1904 issue was 10,025 (the odd 25 pieces being reserved for assay), and of the 1905 issue, 10,041 (41 being for assay). Apparently most of these pieces were distributed at the fair, for they soon became scarce. Collectors were slow to order them, so most went into the hands of the public, undoubtedly accounting for the rarity in Uncirculated grade of these pieces today.
The 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, held to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal as well as the rebuilding of San Francisco from the 1906 destruction, furnished the occasion for the most impressive array of commemorative coins ever issued by the United States. Prepared for the event were a commemorative half dollar, gold dollar, quarter eagle, and two varieties of $50 pieces, the latter being the only coins of that denomination ever struck for public distribution by an official United States Mint. Farran Zerbe, a leading collector of the time, managed the numismatic sales exhibit there. By the close of the event he reported revenues of nearly $250,000. Most impressive were the special sets enclosed in a copper frame with descriptions of the coins printed in gold on purple ribbons. These were offered for $200 each, or a double set, containing two of each variety, could be obtained for $400.
Fifty dollar pieces were first struck at the San Francisco Mint on June 15, 1915. Hon. T. W. H. Shanahan, superintendent of the Mint, extended invitations to about 80 persons who came to witness the historic event. Striking the octagonal $50 pieces was accomplished on a huge press, weighing 14 tons, shipped from Philadelphia. The first coin was struck by Superintendent Shanahan, who then presented it to Charles C. Moore, president of the Panama Pacific International Exposition. Various other visitors were then allowed to strike pieces. The second was produced by Moore, the third by Capt. C. Mirando (from Argentina), the fourth by Julius Kahn (the Congressional representative who authored the act which provided for the coinage), and continuing until the 29th coin, which was struck by Superintendent Shanahan for presentation to Gen. Goethals. After the 29th piece, the remainder were struck by regular mint procedure.
Goethals, whose work on the Panama Canal was celebrated by the exposition, arranged that sets bearing numbers corresponding to the ages of his two sons, 24 and 29, be struck for them. The round $50 gold pieces were struck later and were first delivered to the exposition on July 12th.
Sales were not up to expectations, and of the $50 pieces just 645 octagonal coins were sold and just 483 round ones. Octagonal pieces proved more popular due to their distinctive shape. A substantially larger number of each went to the melting pot.
1916 and 1917 saw the issuance of commemorative gold dollars, funds from which were used in part to pay for the McKinley Memorial at Niles, Ohio, the birthplace of the assassinated President. Nearly 10,000 of Goethals, whose work on the Panama Canal was celebrated by the exposition, arranged that sets bearing numbers corresponding to the ages of his two sons, 24 and 29, be struck for them. The round $50 gold pieces were struck later and were first delivered to the exposition on July 12th.
Sales were not up to expectations, and of the $50 pieces just 645 octagonal coins were sold and just 483 round ones. Octagonal pieces proved more popular due to their distinctive shape. A substantially larger number of each went to the melting pot.
1916 and 1917 saw the issuance of commemorative gold dollars, funds from which were used in part to pay for the McKinley Memorial at Niles, Ohio, the birthplace of the assassinated President. Nearly 10,000 of each year found buyers. Only about half the total number went to the public, however, for a bulk quantity was acquired by B. Max Mehl, the well-known Texas dealer.
The Illinois Centennial in 1918 furnished the occasion for another commemorative half dollar. The obverse was the work of George T. Morgan, and the reverse was done by John R. Sinnock. The design of the piece was admired by collectors. One hundred thousand were eventually distributed, mostly to the public. Two years later, 1920, saw the appearance of the Maine Centennial half dollar, of which 5,028 were distributed. During the same year the 300th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts Bay was observed by a special Pilgrim tercentenary half dollar, of which 152,112 were made. In the following year 1921, 20,053 were made of the same design.