1898 HK-283a, Trans-Mississippi Dollar

Coin Details

Description

HK-283a is the copper version of the official medal of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, held in Omaha, Nebraska, from June 1 to October 31, 1898. Hibler and Kappen record that the Philadelphia Mint made the dies and that the striking was done at the fair by the Mint's own exhibit. The woman facing left on the obverse was drawn as a composite of women of the trans-Mississippi West, under "Trans-Mississippi Exposition Omaha" and the date 1898; the reverse, a mounted Indian spearing a buffalo, was the work of T. R. Kimball, the Omaha architect in charge of the fair's buildings. The fair opened weeks after the Spanish-American War began, and the war drew national attention away from it. The same dies served for silver (HK-281), bronze (HK-282) and brass (HK-283). This piece is copper, 34 mm.

Cross References

HK-283a; PCGS #939747; NGC #850495