Commems Collection Classic: 1903/04 Louisiana Purchase Wooden Ephemera

The famous coin dealer/promoter Farran Zerbe was in charge of the coin booth at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition that was held in St. Louis in 1904. The stars of the display were the two types of gold $1.00 commemorative coins that had the distinction of being the first gold US commemorative coins. The purchase price for each design type was set at $3.00. He promoted and sold the coins on behalf of their sponsor, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company.

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Zerbe would go on to also run the numismatic concession at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, OR in 1905 and the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco, CA. In between, Zerbe served as the president of the American Numismatic Association ( ANA) from 1908 to 1910.

Shown here is a piece of wooden ephemera I picked up several years ago that was sold by Zerbe during the Exposition and had a clear connection to the gold dollars. It's a fun little piece with plenty of wood-en puns. Give it a read!




An enlarged view of the 1903 LPE gold dollar coin images on the back of the card:




Coin images courtesy of PCGS CoinFacts.com