1900 Lesher Dollar - HK-787, Zerbe Type 1

Coin Details

Auction Record

Description

This 1900 Lesher piece (HK-787, Zerbe-1) is the first type, struck from dies Frank Hurd cut in Denver. Joseph W. Lesher (1838-1918), a mine owner of Victor, Colorado, who had backed William Jennings Bryan's free silver campaigns, issued numbered eight-sided silver pieces in 1900 and 1901. He called them referendum souvenirs: holders were free to accept or refuse them, and the octagonal shape kept them apart from federal coinage (Collectors Universe essay, 2017). They are 950 thousandths silver, the rest copper (same essay; APMEX, search). Collectors number them by Hibler-Kappen's so-called dollar catalogue (HK) and by Farran Zerbe's list (Z), as NGC does. The 1900 pieces are 35 mm across and weigh 480 grains, one troy ounce (Collectors Universe essay). It reads JOS LESHERS REFERENDUM SOUVENIR, ONE OZ OF COIN SILVER, PRICE $1.25 and VICTOR COLO 1900; the other side offers currency, coin or merchandise in exchange at face value and ends with a stamped serial number. The essay reports that 100 were struck and sold at $1.25 each. Catalogue numbers: HK-787, Zerbe-1. PCGS number 19000.

Cross References

HK-787; Zerbe-1