A Territorial Silver, So-Called Dollar sleeper . . . .

ZoidMeister · June 3, 2021 1:36PM

I must admit, that I have been smitten of late with the early western territorial silver "So-Called Dollar" rounds and octagons I have been enlightened to.

Whether they be the Lesher Dollars and commemoratives, the 1933 Colorado's Century of Progress dollars, the Pedley-Ryan, Bryan, Montana, or Nevada dollars, all are as fetching as they are valuable.

I did however, run across a nice silver "somewhat-called dollar" a week or so ago. At 39mm and struck from .925 silver, I found the design almost as fetching as the earlier strikes. Made by noted die sinkers Shawnee Hills Medallists, this piece really grabbed my attention.

Presenting my . . . .
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1964 Montana Territorial Centennial / Statehood Diamond Jubilee silver souvenir dollar

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sellitstore · June 3, 2021 5:07PM

I like it.

Seems to qualify as a so called dollar and it's unlisted, too.

Zoins · June 3, 2021 5:21PM

I've watched these for years.

I think the prices will go up once they are cataloged and slabbed as SCDs.

coinsarefun · June 3, 2021 5:27PM

I've liked these too and wondered why they aren't cataloged as SCD's too. I hope one day the grading companies will get caught up with all these.

dcarr · June 3, 2021 10:51PM

@coinsarefun said:
I've liked these too and wondered why they aren't cataloged as SCD's too. I hope one day the grading companies will get caught up with all these.

I think the original So-Called Dollars catalog specified the criteria for listing as, among other things, 1961 or older.
So that is why a number of circa 1964 issues were not included in the listings, even though they met all the other criteria.

johnny9434 · June 4, 2021 1:49AM

That's a cool one

ZoidMeister · June 4, 2021 3:01AM

I would love to see other territorial silver pieces that are out there - the sleepers if you will. I know that they must exist. I had never seen this on before until I started searching for various western states and the term "silver."

Z

ricko · June 4, 2021 4:47AM

That is a nice piece....With attractive designs on both sides. Although not a collector of SCD's, that is one I would likely pick up at a show. Cheers, RickO

tokenpro · June 4, 2021 7:24AM

The 75/100 die was used as a stock die on more than a couple other similar Montana 1964 commemorative medals, most being struck in both copper nickel and in silver (in smaller quantities). Individual cities and some organizations issued these medals in honor of the statewide celebration.

A couple of different people over the years have threatened to catalog post-1961 (HK cutoff date) issues meeting the truly amorphous criteria set by Hibler & Kappen. A catalog covering the boom in local medallic commemoratives from the late 1950's on would make the huge post-Martin & Dow elongated coin catalog by Rosato look like a dime novel. Add in the "stretch" in definitions shown in some more recent regional works and a multi-volume mess work would be a must.

A refined update of pre-1961 items that should have been in the original H&K would be the most useful next step (IMHO); several people have worked on lists of overlooked items for a number of years and contributed to the minimal but useful updates in the second edition of H&K. (My personal opinion is that this would be akin to the old "lipstick on a pig" approach due to the critical problems with the underlying concept -- but as Dalton would say, "opinions vary".)

ZoidMeister · June 4, 2021 1:35PM

Along the lines of "sleeper" western territorial silver pieces, I was successful in capturing the following Lesher House Restoration piece this week. My luck has been good on the Bay as of late. This will go nicely with a few other notable pieces in the "hoard."

I'll post my own photos when it arrives, but for now here are the seller's photos. I am hopeful this sellers photography skills are somewhat lacking. I suspect this piece has phenomenal toning and exceedingly frosty surfaces from what I can see. I just pray the red concrete block he photographed this on didn't do any damage.

Z
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1985 Lesher House Restoration Souvenir - #831 of 1,000

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ranshdow · June 4, 2021 1:41PM

I really like Lesher Dollars too, especially that restoration souvenir, but also the two series that Daniel Carr made.
My restoration/ANA piece is numbered 687. I wonder how many different numbers there are?

ZoidMeister · June 4, 2021 2:36PM

@ranshdow said:
I really like Lesher Dollars too, especially that restoration souvenir, but also the two series that Daniel Carr made.
My restoration/ANA piece is numbered 687. I wonder how many different numbers there are?

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Last count, Daniel Carr had five different Lesher Dollar types. Being post-modern strikes and highly sought after, they tend to escape my personal "sleeper" cost category, when they can be found.

I have been fortunate to have been blessed by a couple forum members who have passed along several of Dan's pieces at affordable prices.

Here are two of the five types that I have been fortunate enough to acquire.

Moonlight Mint 2015 Lesher Dollar - Type #3

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Moonlight Mint 2017 Lesher Dollar - Type #4

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ZoidMeister · June 4, 2021 2:43PM

But here is another "sleeper" that I found that has an almost identical obverse as the Lesher House Restoration piece above, but has a different reverse.

This one has the "Victor - City of Mines" reverse. It looks to have been struck in 1993, is serial numbered, but other than that, I really have very little information on it's origin, why it was produced, by whom, and how many were made.

Google has not been my friend on this one.

Anyway, without further ado, here is yet another western territorial silver "sleeper" . . . . .

Z
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1993 Jos. Lesher Referendum Souvenir Dollar / Victor - City of Mines #073

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WillieBoyd2 · June 4, 2021 4:09PM

If I may ask, what are the 1933 Colorado's Century of Progress dollars?

ZoidMeister · June 4, 2021 4:58PM

@WillieBoyd2 said:
If I may ask, what are the 1933 Colorado's Century of Progress dollars?

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Very glad you asked . . .

This is my favorite "sleeper" of all . . .
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Officially a listed HK So-Called Dollar, the

1933 HK-870 Colorado's Century of Progress Dollar

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