1903 G$1 LA Purchase, Jefferson MS64 认证号21370471, PCGS号7443

The centennial of the Louisiana Purchase of 1903 was the premise for the minting of two commemorative gold dollars. The Jefferson Gold Dollar, depicted below,and the McKinley Gold Dollar were minted in 1902 and 1903 for the centennial in St. Louis in 1904. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, better known as the St. Louis World's Fair was a year late as the centennial year is 1903, the completion of the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon of France. Jefferson is depicted on the obverse of the coin, and on the reverse is an olive branch with centennial years 1803-1903. The denomination of one dollar and the inscription "Louisiana Purchase Exposition--St. Louis" completes the design. This is the first gold dollar minted since the discontinuation of the denomination in 1889. The coin, sold at the fair for $3.00 each, met with little enthusiasm. Over 100,000 of the coins minted were returned to Philadelphia for melting. Brilliant proofs were minted (100 coins) signed by the suprintendent and chief coiner of the mint. Proofs today are very rare and should not be confused with proof-like coins of business strikes. The issue has been extensively conterfieted and all specimens should authenicated by a third party grading service. The U. S. Postal Service in 1904 issued commemorative stamps in one, two, three, five, and ten-cent denominations for the exposition. The one and two cent stamps are common issues whereas the three, five, and ten cent are relatively scarce and pricey.

Jaime Hernandez

In the early 1800's Thomas Jefferson sent U.S. representatives to make a deal with Napoleon Bonaparte for the purchase of a large section of the Louisiana Territory.  On April 30, 1803, the United States finally signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty. This purchase immediately doubled the size of the United States at that time.

100 years later, Congress appropriated $5 million to fund the construction of a world fair, including the building’s and exhibits.  Additionally Congress also approved the production of 250,000 gold dollars to commemorate this memorable event.  At the time, Farran Zerbe famous coin collector and dealer had close connections with the Mint and he suggested the use of two different designs on the coins in an attempt to popularize the coins. 

Therefore, the Mint struck two different 1903 Louisiana Purchase Gold Dollars. One had a portrait of Thomas Jefferson on the obverse, while the second on had a portrait of William McKinley.  Both coin designs carried the same reverse design.

Obviously, the first coin had Thomas Jefferson’s design since he is the one who made the Louisiana Purchase possible. McKinley on the other hand, appeared on the second coin design because he was assassinated just six months after he signed the appropriations bill for the Exposition.

At the Exposition Fairground, each 1903 Louisiana Purchase Gold Dollar was being sold by Zerbe at a price of $3 each.  Unfortunately, the entire mintage of the coins failed to sell out. Ten years after the Exposition, Zerbe continued to sell them at a lower price than the original $3 issue price. By 1914, at least 215,000 coins still remained unsold and were later melted by the U.S. Mint.