Lafayette Commemorative Dollar

A few nights ago I decided to write a little bit about my most recent favorite coin, the Lafayette Commemorative Dollar. This coin will for sure be a prime specimen in my collection in the near future, but until then all I can do is research and write about it. And with a little bit of help from Lehigh, I present to you my short writing about it.

Please enjoy.

any criticism is welcome, I am by no means perfect and I'm willing to correct any mistakes I may have made.

Lafayette Commemorative Dollar

Commemorative Lafayette Silver Dollar -


Marquis De Lafayette could arguably be one of the most important figureheads of the new Americas.A French born Continental Army Major General aided Commander and Chief, George Washington in the battles of Yorktown, Brandywine, and Valley Forge.During the battle of Brandywine, General Lafayette retuned to France to negotiate the increase of French support, helping secure a victory.


The United States were invited to the 1900 French Exposition, and found it proper to create a monument dedicated to the late General Lafayette.The sculpture of the project was to be Paul Wayland Bartlett, who would create a statue depicting Lafayette riding horseback. March 3rd, 1899 was the date when Congress authorized the production of the very first commemorative silver dollar to help pay for the monument.It was decided that 50,000 coins were to be produced in one single day, December 14th, 1899.This date happened to be the 100th anniversary of Washington's death. Although this coin has a date on it, it is not the mint date, its purely a commemorative date, so technically its dateless.

The United States mint's Chief Engraver, Charles E. Barber was to be the sole designer of the dies.The obverse of the coin depicts both George Washington and Lafayette's Bust. Not only was this coin the first commemorative, it was also the first coin to show an American president.Many have claimed Barber copied the design from a previous Medal crafted by Peter Krider in 1881.The reverse of the coin shows what the coin was created for, the statue of General Lafayette.

The sale of the coins at $2 proved to be rather slow, only selling a little over 36,000.The remanding coins sat at the mint until melted in 1945.Designed to be commemorative coins, and never intended to be put into circulation, these coins seemed to be bought by many non-numismatist, and therefore were severely mistreated, often polished or used as pocket pieces.So, not surprisingly, coins in the higher MS range are especially rare.