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1904-1905 Lewis and Clark Gold Dollar
LeeG
Posts: 12,162 ✭
When President Thomas Jefferson asked Congress in January, 1803, to appropriate $2500 for an exploratory expedition into the Pacific Northwest, negotiations to purchase the Louisiana Territory had not yet begun. Not that Jefferson didn’t have plans afoot: His long-term fascination with the oft-advanced theory of a water route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean became even stronger when he learned of Spain’s secret ceding of Louisiana to France. Concerned about the aggressive Napoleon’s motives, he dispatched James Monroe with instructions to purchase West Florida and New Orleans from the French. Fortunately for the United States, Monroe found Napoleon frustrated by a slave revolt in Haiti and the resumption of hostilities with Great Britain. The Emperor was only too happy to exchange all of France’s holdings for much needed cash to finance his adventures in Europe. As word reached America of the sale, plans for the Northwest exploration were well underway, placing added significance on the venture.
NGC MS67, sold for $29,900 on 11/29/07
[PUBLIC—NO. 111—58TH CONGRESS]
SEC. 6. That upon the approval of this Act the Secretary of the Treasury shall, upon the request of the Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair Company, cause to be coined at the mints of the United States not to exceed two hundred and fifty thousand gold dollars, of legal weight and fineness, to be known as the Lewis and Clark Exposition gold dollar, struck in commemoration of said exposition. The words, devices, and designs upon said gold dollars shall be determined and prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and all provisions of law relative to the coinage and legal-tender quality of all other gold coin shall be applicable to the coin issued under and in accordance with the provisions of this Act. That the said coins shall be disposed of by the Secretary of the Treasury to the said Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair Company at par, under rules and regulations and in amounts to be prescribed by him. That medals with appropriate devices, emblems, and inscriptions commemorative of said Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition and of the awards to be made to the exhibitors thereat shall be prepared by the Secretary of the Treasury at some mint of the United States for the board of directors of said exposition company, subject to the provisions of the fifty-second section of the coinage Act of eighteen hundred and ninety-three, and upon the payment of a sum not less than the cost thereof; and all provisions, whether penal or otherwise, of said coinage Act against the counterfeiting or imitating of coins of the United States shall apply to the medals issued under this Act.
Approved, April 13, 1904.
Meriwether Lewis. Portrait by Charles Willson Peale, c. 1807 and Portrait of William Clark by Charles Willson Peale, 1810
Route of the expedition
Jefferson put his personal secretary, Army Captain Meriwether Lewis, in charge of the expedition. Lewis chose his friend Captain William Clark as his partner and co-leader on the trek. On May 4, 1804, the two explorers and their party of mostly soldiers and frontiersmen set off up the Missouri River. Reaching an area near present day Bismarck, North Dakota by the end of October, they wintered with the Mandan Indians of the region. Apparently, they were made quite comfortable by the natives, as traces of the explorers’ visit were visible in the physical characteristics of many upper Missouri Valley inhabitants for many years afterward. With the help of Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian wife of the party’s French interpreter, the expedition crossed the Rocky Mountains and explored the Snake and Columbia Rivers. They spent the winter of 1805 in a military outpost on the Pacific coast. In the spring of 1806 the party recrossed the Rockies, explored the Yellowstone, and after traversing more than 6,000 miles in two years and four months, arrived in St. Louis again on September 23. Their return was greeted with jubilation, as many had believed them long dead.
1905 Painting Lewis and Clark on the Lower Columbia by Charles Marion Russell; Opaque and transparent watercolor over graphite underdrawing on paper
Lewis and Clark were the first of the trailblazers of the 19th century, men who made it possible for other discoverers to push the limits of American expansion. The tale of their expedition is inextricably linked to the fortuitous purchase of the vast Louisiana Territory in 1803. And so it was one hundred years later when centennial celebrations were held for both events. The purchase of Louisiana was celebrated by a world’s fair held in St. Louis in 1904, and the travels of Lewis and Clark were commemorated at a national fair in Portland, Oregon the following year.
Officers and operations directors of the Lewis and Clark Exposition Corporation, which oversaw the development and operation of the fair. A state commission worked in conjunction with the corporation to assure legislative support and accountability.
The appropriations bill for the Lewis and Clark centennial celebration passed Congress on April 13, 1904. It also provided for the minting of a maximum of 250,000 gold dollars that would bear likenesses of the two explorers. The result was the first, and to-date only, two-headed U.S. coin. Designed and modeled by the Philadelphia Mint’s Chief Engraver Charles Barber, the obverse bears a portrait of Lewis, and the reverse depicts Clark. Barber reportedly based the portraits on paintings of the two men done by Charles Wilson Peale. Statutory legends surround the portraits on both sides: LEWIS-CLARK EXPOSITION PORTLAND ORE. on the obverse, and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and ONE DOLLAR on the reverse. The date appears below Lewis’ portrait.
Groundbreaking for the Lewis & Clark Expo held in 1905 in Portland, Oregon.
Artist rendering of the Lewis & Clark Expo held in 1905 in Portland, Oregon.
All of the Lewis and Clark dollars were struck in the Philadelphia Mint. In September 1904, 25,000 pieces were produced bearing that year’s date, a curious occurrence, as the coins remained in the Mint’s vaults until the fair opened on June 1, 1905. Just as with the Louisiana Purchase dollars, numismatic entrepreneur Farran Zerbe was again placed in charge of the distribution of the coins at the exposition. As he had done with the Louisiana dollars, Zerbe enthusiastically promoted the Lewis and Clark coins. Learning a lesson from the sluggish sale of the Louisiana pieces that were issued at $3 each, the Lewis and Clark dollars sold for $2 per coin. Zerbe soon raised that to $2.50 by publishing the fiction that the 1904 issue was almost sold out. Few cared and even fewer bothered with the 1905 issue when it debuted at $2 per coin or $10 for 6 pieces. When the dust had settled and the exposition closed October 14, 1905, a total of 60,000 Lewis and Clark dollars had been struck: 25,028 of the 1904 coins and 35,041 dated 1905. The odd 28 and 41 pieces were reserved for assay. Of the 1904 issue 15,003 pieces were melted, leaving a net mintage of only 9,997. An even higher percentage of the 1905 dated coins—25,000—entered the melting pot, leaving a net figure of only 10,000 for that year.
Official Daily Program of the fair. The program included a map, schedule of events, advertisements, and other promotional information on the fair and its host city.
Very little is known about the fate of these diminutive coins. They were largely ignored by the numismatic press of the day and disdained by collectors who had seen the value of their Louisiana Purchase coins drop from the $3 issue price to $2 by the time the Portland exposition opened. Their desire to complete the commemorative gold dollar series was obviously outweighed by an aversion to risk further losses on the Lewis and Clark coins. While 10,000 pieces of each date were distributed, surprisingly few choice uncirculated examples exist. Apparently, most of the coins were sold on the fair grounds to the non-collecting public who did little to preserve these souvenirs over the years. Many were also worked into jewelry as broaches and stickpins; some were even mounted in silver spoons. While interesting as ephemera from the exposition, such mounted pieces are of little numismatic value. Most Lewis and Clark gold dollars are found in grades XF-AU, with occasional MS-60 through 63 specimens appearing. MS-64 pieces are very scarce, and gem MS-65 or higher examples are rarely encountered. In grades above MS-62, the 1905 issue is decidedly rarer. Perhaps many of these unwanted second-year coins found their way into circulation during the Depression or suffered a more numismatically sacrilegious end in the melting pot after 1933.
View of the Agricultural Palace
View of the Grand Stairway and lakefront looking across the lake to the U.S. Government Building.
View from the entrance through the Sunken Gardens with monumental sculpture by Fredric Remington in the foreground.
The portraits of the explorers are the first areas to show friction from handling or circulation. Typical surface luster covers the full spectrum, ranging from prooflike or semi-prooflike to frosty or dull satiny. Brilliant proofs exist: reportedly no more than four pieces of each year. Such coins display far greater design detail than ordinary business strikes. Because of the elusiveness of both years, counterfeits are known: some surfaced in the early 1960s, and although most were confiscated by the Secret Service, occasionally one is still seen today. These pieces are somewhat porous, with irregularly placed lettering and abnormally weak devices.
This Sept. 26, 1905, photograph shows 18-year-old pilot Lincoln Beachey flying the “City of Portland” dirigible aircraft over the Oregonian building in downtown Portland as a promotional stunt to attract visitors to the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition.
Ironically, the Lewis and Clark gold dollars, viewed as an afterthought to the Louisiana Purchase commemoratives of 1903 and slighted by collectors of that era, are highly regarded by the numismatic community of today. The poor reception afforded the coins at time of issue virtually guaranteed their rarity for future generations; in fact, they are the rarest gold dollars in the commemorative series. Despite Barber’s mundane portraits and Zerbe’s largely ineffectual attempts to market the coins, the Lewis and Clark commemorative gold dollars have finally gained the respect of collectors that they so well deserve.
Statue of Lewis and Clark in Seaside, Oregon, near the expedition's end
SPECIFICATIONS:
Diameter: 15 millimeters
Weight: 1.672 grams
Composition: .900 gold, .100 copper
Edge: Reeded
Net Weight: .04837 ounce pure gold
NGC MS67, sold for $29,900 on 11/29/07
[PUBLIC—NO. 111—58TH CONGRESS]
SEC. 6. That upon the approval of this Act the Secretary of the Treasury shall, upon the request of the Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair Company, cause to be coined at the mints of the United States not to exceed two hundred and fifty thousand gold dollars, of legal weight and fineness, to be known as the Lewis and Clark Exposition gold dollar, struck in commemoration of said exposition. The words, devices, and designs upon said gold dollars shall be determined and prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and all provisions of law relative to the coinage and legal-tender quality of all other gold coin shall be applicable to the coin issued under and in accordance with the provisions of this Act. That the said coins shall be disposed of by the Secretary of the Treasury to the said Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair Company at par, under rules and regulations and in amounts to be prescribed by him. That medals with appropriate devices, emblems, and inscriptions commemorative of said Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition and of the awards to be made to the exhibitors thereat shall be prepared by the Secretary of the Treasury at some mint of the United States for the board of directors of said exposition company, subject to the provisions of the fifty-second section of the coinage Act of eighteen hundred and ninety-three, and upon the payment of a sum not less than the cost thereof; and all provisions, whether penal or otherwise, of said coinage Act against the counterfeiting or imitating of coins of the United States shall apply to the medals issued under this Act.
Approved, April 13, 1904.
Meriwether Lewis. Portrait by Charles Willson Peale, c. 1807 and Portrait of William Clark by Charles Willson Peale, 1810
Route of the expedition
Jefferson put his personal secretary, Army Captain Meriwether Lewis, in charge of the expedition. Lewis chose his friend Captain William Clark as his partner and co-leader on the trek. On May 4, 1804, the two explorers and their party of mostly soldiers and frontiersmen set off up the Missouri River. Reaching an area near present day Bismarck, North Dakota by the end of October, they wintered with the Mandan Indians of the region. Apparently, they were made quite comfortable by the natives, as traces of the explorers’ visit were visible in the physical characteristics of many upper Missouri Valley inhabitants for many years afterward. With the help of Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian wife of the party’s French interpreter, the expedition crossed the Rocky Mountains and explored the Snake and Columbia Rivers. They spent the winter of 1805 in a military outpost on the Pacific coast. In the spring of 1806 the party recrossed the Rockies, explored the Yellowstone, and after traversing more than 6,000 miles in two years and four months, arrived in St. Louis again on September 23. Their return was greeted with jubilation, as many had believed them long dead.
1905 Painting Lewis and Clark on the Lower Columbia by Charles Marion Russell; Opaque and transparent watercolor over graphite underdrawing on paper
Lewis and Clark were the first of the trailblazers of the 19th century, men who made it possible for other discoverers to push the limits of American expansion. The tale of their expedition is inextricably linked to the fortuitous purchase of the vast Louisiana Territory in 1803. And so it was one hundred years later when centennial celebrations were held for both events. The purchase of Louisiana was celebrated by a world’s fair held in St. Louis in 1904, and the travels of Lewis and Clark were commemorated at a national fair in Portland, Oregon the following year.
Officers and operations directors of the Lewis and Clark Exposition Corporation, which oversaw the development and operation of the fair. A state commission worked in conjunction with the corporation to assure legislative support and accountability.
The appropriations bill for the Lewis and Clark centennial celebration passed Congress on April 13, 1904. It also provided for the minting of a maximum of 250,000 gold dollars that would bear likenesses of the two explorers. The result was the first, and to-date only, two-headed U.S. coin. Designed and modeled by the Philadelphia Mint’s Chief Engraver Charles Barber, the obverse bears a portrait of Lewis, and the reverse depicts Clark. Barber reportedly based the portraits on paintings of the two men done by Charles Wilson Peale. Statutory legends surround the portraits on both sides: LEWIS-CLARK EXPOSITION PORTLAND ORE. on the obverse, and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and ONE DOLLAR on the reverse. The date appears below Lewis’ portrait.
Groundbreaking for the Lewis & Clark Expo held in 1905 in Portland, Oregon.
Artist rendering of the Lewis & Clark Expo held in 1905 in Portland, Oregon.
All of the Lewis and Clark dollars were struck in the Philadelphia Mint. In September 1904, 25,000 pieces were produced bearing that year’s date, a curious occurrence, as the coins remained in the Mint’s vaults until the fair opened on June 1, 1905. Just as with the Louisiana Purchase dollars, numismatic entrepreneur Farran Zerbe was again placed in charge of the distribution of the coins at the exposition. As he had done with the Louisiana dollars, Zerbe enthusiastically promoted the Lewis and Clark coins. Learning a lesson from the sluggish sale of the Louisiana pieces that were issued at $3 each, the Lewis and Clark dollars sold for $2 per coin. Zerbe soon raised that to $2.50 by publishing the fiction that the 1904 issue was almost sold out. Few cared and even fewer bothered with the 1905 issue when it debuted at $2 per coin or $10 for 6 pieces. When the dust had settled and the exposition closed October 14, 1905, a total of 60,000 Lewis and Clark dollars had been struck: 25,028 of the 1904 coins and 35,041 dated 1905. The odd 28 and 41 pieces were reserved for assay. Of the 1904 issue 15,003 pieces were melted, leaving a net mintage of only 9,997. An even higher percentage of the 1905 dated coins—25,000—entered the melting pot, leaving a net figure of only 10,000 for that year.
Official Daily Program of the fair. The program included a map, schedule of events, advertisements, and other promotional information on the fair and its host city.
Very little is known about the fate of these diminutive coins. They were largely ignored by the numismatic press of the day and disdained by collectors who had seen the value of their Louisiana Purchase coins drop from the $3 issue price to $2 by the time the Portland exposition opened. Their desire to complete the commemorative gold dollar series was obviously outweighed by an aversion to risk further losses on the Lewis and Clark coins. While 10,000 pieces of each date were distributed, surprisingly few choice uncirculated examples exist. Apparently, most of the coins were sold on the fair grounds to the non-collecting public who did little to preserve these souvenirs over the years. Many were also worked into jewelry as broaches and stickpins; some were even mounted in silver spoons. While interesting as ephemera from the exposition, such mounted pieces are of little numismatic value. Most Lewis and Clark gold dollars are found in grades XF-AU, with occasional MS-60 through 63 specimens appearing. MS-64 pieces are very scarce, and gem MS-65 or higher examples are rarely encountered. In grades above MS-62, the 1905 issue is decidedly rarer. Perhaps many of these unwanted second-year coins found their way into circulation during the Depression or suffered a more numismatically sacrilegious end in the melting pot after 1933.
View of the Agricultural Palace
View of the Grand Stairway and lakefront looking across the lake to the U.S. Government Building.
View from the entrance through the Sunken Gardens with monumental sculpture by Fredric Remington in the foreground.
The portraits of the explorers are the first areas to show friction from handling or circulation. Typical surface luster covers the full spectrum, ranging from prooflike or semi-prooflike to frosty or dull satiny. Brilliant proofs exist: reportedly no more than four pieces of each year. Such coins display far greater design detail than ordinary business strikes. Because of the elusiveness of both years, counterfeits are known: some surfaced in the early 1960s, and although most were confiscated by the Secret Service, occasionally one is still seen today. These pieces are somewhat porous, with irregularly placed lettering and abnormally weak devices.
This Sept. 26, 1905, photograph shows 18-year-old pilot Lincoln Beachey flying the “City of Portland” dirigible aircraft over the Oregonian building in downtown Portland as a promotional stunt to attract visitors to the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition.
Ironically, the Lewis and Clark gold dollars, viewed as an afterthought to the Louisiana Purchase commemoratives of 1903 and slighted by collectors of that era, are highly regarded by the numismatic community of today. The poor reception afforded the coins at time of issue virtually guaranteed their rarity for future generations; in fact, they are the rarest gold dollars in the commemorative series. Despite Barber’s mundane portraits and Zerbe’s largely ineffectual attempts to market the coins, the Lewis and Clark commemorative gold dollars have finally gained the respect of collectors that they so well deserve.
Statue of Lewis and Clark in Seaside, Oregon, near the expedition's end
SPECIFICATIONS:
Diameter: 15 millimeters
Weight: 1.672 grams
Composition: .900 gold, .100 copper
Edge: Reeded
Net Weight: .04837 ounce pure gold
0
Comments
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
It's too bad we don't have these worlds fairs any more, I remember the one in 1964 going as a 6 year old.
I guess Epcot replaced them
1964 worlds fair from widipedia
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
-Randy Newman
Here are the best condition census prooflike examples:
NGC 12/1/0
NGC 6/1/0
Awesome read! Thanks!
>>>My Collection
for anyone interested in the Exploration, i suggest the Complete Journals of the Exploration, editted by Bernard DeVoto.
<< <i>Do you know exactly where in Portland the exposition grounds were? I wonder if any of the buildings remain today. >>
The committee had narrowed its choices to “two tracts… Willamette heights on the west side and Hawthorne Park, with a portion of the Ladd tract, on the east side,” and that Willamette Heights was to be chosen, as “It is claimed that the natural advantages offered by the Willamette Heights outweigh all other considerations and that … Guild’s Lake, it is said, can be utilized to great advantage and made a scene of beauty….” With this voting, “the Lewis and Clark Exposition had its site – a grove of trees, 180 acres of pasture, and 220 acres of waist-high stagnant water at the site’s center.”
Guild's Lake had numerous other advantages. As the site was located on the edge of settlement in Portland, it was easily accessed by the populace. Two local trolley lines (the Portland Railway and City Suburban Railway) ran to within one block of the proposed entrance. Guild's Lake also had the advantage of being located adjacent to the recently-constructed Vaughn Street Park, a baseball stadium which would prove rather useful during the operation of the fair. The site was also accessible from the river; and steamers provided visitors a ride to the site for 10 cents.
The buildings, not intended to be permanent, were largely constructed of plaster over wooden frames, which resulted in rather low construction costs (79 cents per foot).
The major exception to this was the Forestry Building, a log cabin which was said to be the world's largest. It was constructed of 54 long unhewn logs, and contained exhibits of local forestry products, wildlife, and Native American photographs. The building was 206 feet long, 102 feet wide, and 72 feet high (63m x 31m x 22m), and cost nearly $30,000. The building stood until destroyed by fire in 1964 and inspired the Western Forestry Center as a replacement.
In addition, numerous statues adorned the grounds. Several of the statues remain today, including one of Sacajawea which is now in Washington Park.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
It's ungraded. Would anyone care to suggest a grade?