1933 SC$1 Colorado's "Century of Progress" dollar

关于此套币: The Colorado State Legislature failed to appropriate funds for participation in the "Century of Progress" exposition at the being held at the Chicago 1933 Worlds Fair. Which was a bummer. Many Denver and other civic organizations knowing that 32 or more other states were to have official exhibits believed that Colorado's non-appearance would be detrimental to its industrial welfare. About $60,000 was estimated to be necessary to assure proper representation and Colorado only had less than 28-30 days remaining in which to raise it. A plan to produce and sell "Colorado Dollars" was devised and adopted by the Colorado Century of Progress Commission to accomplish this objective. On Feb. 1, 1933 the Commission announced that one-ounce discs of pure silver would be sold at $1 each with silver prices trading at .28 cents an ounce at that time. Next day Feb. 2nd Gov. Ed C. Johnson of Colorado purchased the first token and general sale was started throughout state. The discs were advertised and sold elsewhere by the Colorado State Board of Immigration in Denver for $1.25 each. Planchets were made of one ounce of pure silver and struck by Sachs-Lawlor Co. and the H. H. Tammen Co. both in Denver. All have plain edges. The first three types have incus letters and figures and the Type IV is embossed. That proposed $60,000 was a considerable amount just coming out of the "Great Depression". Colorado was known for its silver mines. PCGS got a late start in creating this set and in all four types of coins struck no more than 6-12 examples have graded high enough from the 22,900 SC$1 examples that were struck. Well over 75% of these SC$1s were melted shortly afterwards and subsequent melting and lost and or damaged examples have accounted for the excessively low problem-free numbers. This set is from the Jeff Shevlin NGC collection. All of these examples of so-call dollars indicate the scarcity and distribution. Jeff Shevlin is and has been the foremost expert in the field and has authored several articles and books on the subject. Any coin pedigreed with his name is highly sought after.
Most of the first offerings went to political staff and local leaders and consumers last. Today certified examples are scarce and only a handful of examples survived to grade. The disc created and used in the coining process were 38mm and 40mm - much larger than the government mint struck (Seated Liberty, Trade, Morgan, and Peace) dollars with 37mm diameter and 10% copper alloy. It should also be noted that the 1933 SC$1s because of their 100% purity of silver only can easily be damaged/bent or scratched when in circulation for a time and tarnish quickly in some cases. Originally coins were sold in leather pouches or leather flips to help protect the coins as a token. Created: 04/16/2023 ~ Updated/Upgraded: 06/30/2023