A Lesher Reforendum Dollar & A Brief History

I have been looking for a Lesher Referendum Dollar since I spent a couple hours in the "semi ghost town" of Victor, Colorado. I had seen a few pieces offered, but most them had problems. Here is the piece I bought for type and an essay I wrote on these unusual pieces, which are listed in [u]The Red Book



Joseph W. Lesher (1838 - 1918) was an Ohio native who worked his way up from a Colorado silver mine worker to silver mine owner and real estate developer over two decades. Lesher was a strong supporter of William Jennings Bryan during his two failed attempts to win the presidency in 1896 and 1900. After Bryan lost his second run in November 1900, Lesher launched a project to increase the use the silver as a medium of exchange in Colorado. His goals were to boost the silver mining industry and turn a profit for himself. The pieces that resulted from this project are called the Lesher Reformation Dollars, and they are listed in the Red Book on page 415 in the 70th Edition (2017).

Like William Jennings Bryan, Lesher believed that the unlimited coinage of silver would result in increased business activity and prosperity to the working classes. Others, including Colorado governor, Davis Waite and Colorado senator, E. O. Wolcott, agreed with this theory and lent their tacit approval to Lesher's plan to produce and circulate a private issue of silver coinage. Lesher had to be careful that his coinage did not cross the line and run afoul of the Federal Government anti-counterfeiting laws. On November 13, 1900, a Chicago, Illinois newspaper ran the following story that was based on a dispatch from Lesher's home town, Victor, Colorado:

"Mr. Lesher proposes to demonstrate that the 'intrinsic value' theory (of money) is a delusion and a snare. His silver at the present quotation costs 65 cents per ounce, the expense of coining is 15 cents - 80 cents in all - but he values dollars at $1.25 and intends to keep them above par. Although he is confident that the silver alone is really worth $1.29 an ounce, he admits that other people may be prejudiced. Therefore he promises to pay $1.25 in United States money on demand for each 'referendum' dollar. In order to avoid any entanglement with the Government Mr. Lesher makes his dollars eight-sided."

Lesher's 1900 Referendum Dollars
Lesher designed his tokens and commissioned a professional die maker to sink the images for him at a cost of $60 per die pair. Denver die maker, Frank Hurd, made the first set of dies which had a relatively simple design. The pieces were struck on octagonal planchets to avoid any confusion with the United States coinage. The planchets were 35 millimeters across, weighted 480 grains and were made of 95% silver and 5% copper.

The obverse read, "Jos Leshers Referendum Souvenir / One Oz of Coin / Silver / Price $1.25/ M.F.G.D. Victor / Colo / 1900." Lesher used the term, "Souvenir," to make it clear that his pieces were not coins. The word "referendum" emphasized the fact that people were not required to accept these pieces in instead of cash; their acceptance was voluntary. The reverse read, "A Commodity / Will Give / in / Exchange / Currency Coin / or / Merchandise / at Face Value / NO." Following the "No" there was a space where a serial number that was usually stamped in on the piece. The serial numbers appear to have been entered in no particular order of issue although each one is unique to each piece.

Lesher had 100 of these pieces struck, and sold them for $1.25 each. When this proved to be too cumbersome, he struck up a deal a Victor, Colorado grocer, A. B. Bumstead, to sell the pieces and give them out in change at his store. The Bumstead pieces were issued in two minor varieties and featured a landscape of the Colorado mountains with mining equipment and buildings on the slopes of the hills. Herman Otto, another Denver die maker, made the tools that used to strike these pieces. The obverse letting read, "Pikes - Peak. / Silver Mine" above the mountains. Below were the words, "A Commodity / will give / In Exchange / Merchandise / at / A. B. Bumstead." with a space for a serial number below. The reverse featured the center of the Colorado State Seal and read, "Jos Leshers Referendum Souvenir / 1 Oz. Coin / Silver / Price $1.25 / Colo. / 1900."

One thousand pieces were struck of the 1900 Bumstead, Lesher dollars, and records show that Bumstead issued 700 of them. Only three pieces were returned for redemption although they contained only 65 cents worth of silver. Lesher maintained that the "true price" of silver was $1.29 per ounce although he admitted that most people didn't agree with him. The price of silver would not reach that level until 1963.

In late 1900 Lesher had six die trial pieces struck that included language that did or may have gotten him into trouble. The words, "A commodity */ will give merchandise or cash / at any bank," appeared below the standard mining landscape. Some researchers claim that the Federal Government confiscated the dies that made these pieces. Others say that Lesher ended the coinage of these pieces on his own knowing that bank reference would cause him trouble. This variety is rare with 10 pieces known.

Lesher's 1901 Referendum Dollars
In 1901 Lesher took his referendum dollar business in a new direction. He reduced the diameter to 32 millimeters and the weight 412.5 grains, which was the same weight as the standard U.S. silver dollar. On April 16, 1901 Lesher obtained a patent for the design of his pieces, No. 34,359. His intent was to prevent others from copying and possibly counterfeiting his design.

Lesher retained the landscape design on the obverse and the Colorado State Seal on the reverse, but he modified the wording considerably. With a call toward populism, the obverse wording was, "In the people we trust / * A Commodity * / will give in exchange / merchandise at." There was a space below where individual merchants stamped in the name of their business and the town where it was located. Much of the reverse was dedicated to the legalese that Lesher hoped would discourage others from copying his design. It read, "Jos. Leshers referendum silver souvenir medal / price $1.00 / U.S. / Patent No. / 62,695 / Trade mark reg U.S. Pat Off / No 36,192, Apr. 8, 1901 / Design Pat. Apr. 16, 1901 / M'f'd / Victor, Colo / *1901 *."

Lesher charged the merchants 80 cents apiece for these pieces. Most of the known examples have been punched with the merchants' name and town. Merchants from five Colorado towns, Cripple Creek, Denver, Grand Junction, Pueblo and Salida issued tokens in numbers that varied from 50 (the most common amount) to 260 pieces. One Nebraska merchant also issued Lesher tokens, but the intent was more to advertise the opening of a new store than to use the pieces as a medium of exchange. There are also three unique pieces have the names of people hand engraved upon them that might have been vanity tokens.

Joseph Lesher shut down his token business after 1901, probably because it had not been as successful as he had hoped. In a 1914 interview with ANA legend, Farran Zerbe, who became an early expert on these piece, Lesher said that between 3,000 and 3,500 pieces had been struck. A modern expert, the late Adna Wilde, believed that only 1,870 pieces were made. Wilde compiled a list of the known pieces by variety which has been maintained since his death. To date 580 pieces have been recorded over all of the varieties.

Yet, despite the opinions of the experts, rumors persist that a significant hoard of Lesher dollars exists that is yet to be discovered. Victor, Colorado business man, Zach Hutton, was said to have accumulated several hundred pieces that he stored in two coffee cans. Fearing that someone would steal his hoard, he buried them somewhere on his property before he died of pneumonia in January 1902. Such is the stuff of legends that always appeals to some members of the general public, metal detector enthusiasts and the coin collector community.

Collecting the Lesher Dollars Today
All of the Lesher dollars are regarded as rare today. I became interested in these pieces after a trip to Colorado and a day spent in the towns of Cripple Creek and Victor. Lesher dollars appear for sale occasionally at the large coin shows and in the cases of dealers who specialize in tokens in medals. One well known token and medal dealer had one at the spring 2016 Lakeland Collectorrama.

These pieces are listed in the book So-Called Dollars by Harold Hibler and Charles Kappen. So-called dollars have become very popular in recent years, which has driven up prices considerably. It has become very hard to find "bargain priced" Lesher dollars.

It has been my observation that the grading for certified Lesher Dollar s is very lose. Many certified pieces show signs of cleaning, and rim problems are common. Compounding the search for a truly nice specimen in a problem free holder is the fact that pieces with file marks on the edge to repair rim bumps are not unusual. "In the good old days" should pieces would not have gotten a straight grade or would have even made it into a certification holder.

Unfortunately the discerning collector must be mindful of these problem pieces and avoid them if possible. If you are looking for some of the very rare varieties, sometimes a problem piece is all you can find. It has been my experience that dealers will ignore such hidden problems when they are selling but very quick to note them when they are buying. Caution is strongly advised.