Commems Collection Classic: 1900 Lafayette Memorial Dollar - Historical Tidbits

A few brief notes about the United States' ("US") first commemorative Silver Dollar:


Tidbit #1

On December 8, 1899. the US Secretary of the Treasury - Lyman J. Gage - issued the order for the purchase of silver bullion to be used for the coining of the Lafayette Memorial Silver Dollars.

The coin's authorizing legislation included a provision for the market purchase of silver for the coins:

"the Secretary of the Treasury shall be, and is hereby authorized to purchase in the market twenty-five thousand dollars worth of silver bullion, or so much thereof as may be necessary for the purpose herein provided for, from which there shall be coined at the mints of the United States silver dollars of the legal weight and fineness to the number of fifty thousand pieces, to be known as the Lafayette dollar."

Per the Annual Report of the Director of the Mint - 1900, the 50,000 Lafayette Memorial Silver Dollars (plus Assay coins) required 38,675.875 troy ounces of silver - the silver was purchased on the open market for $23,032.80.

The order must have been acted upon quickly as all 50,000 of the coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint on December 14, 1899. (It seems within the realm of possibility that the Mint initiated production of the coins with silver that it had in inventory and replaced it later with silver it purchased on the open market.)


Tidbit #2

Lyman J. Gage, US Secretary of the Treasury, gave a test strike of the Lafayette Silver Dollar to the Lafayette Memorial Commission to review/inspect in early December 1899. The Commission had artists Francis Davis Millet and Cassius Marcellus Coolidge review the sample coin - they declared it "the most artistic piece of work turned out by the United States Mint" and gave the piece their approval.

The declaration by the artists smacks of hyperbole IMO.


Tidbit #3

A release from the Lafayette Memorial Commission that ran in multiple US newspapers in November 1899 made reference to the potential significance of the soon-to-released Lafayette Memorial coin:

"The Lafayette dollar thus serves not only to aid the memorial work, but forms a new and beautiful tie between the two great republics of Europe and America, and therefore the coin must be regarded as an international emblem."

Certainly a glowing report on the coin!


Tidbit #4

The November 6, 1899 edition of The Omaha Daily Bee included a notice about the Lafayette "souvenir" dollar that included comments from Robert J. Thompson, the secretary of the Lafayette Memorial Commission. His remarks included:

"The new dollar will be unique in Its way and something unlike any other piece of money ever issued by this country in the past. In the first place, it will be different from any other on account of having two medallions [portraits] on one side. These will represent Washington and Lafayette. In this respect it will be the only coin In modern times having a double medallion on one side. Another feature will he its representation of two countries France and the United States. This is certainly out of all former precedents. Altogether the souvenir dollars will be of extreme value and we have not the least doubt about their quick sale. "

Ah yes, the confident musings of pre-sale optimism!

Note: Thompson's comments are specifically in reference to United States coinage - not coins of the World.


1900 Lafayette Memorial Silver Dollar



For a "Superbit", check out 1900 Lafayette Memorial Dollar - Alternate Designs for a discussion of proposed designs for the coin.


For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more "Tidbits" stories, see: Commems Collection