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In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson achieved one of the greatest accomplishments of his presidency: the Louisiana Purchase. Prior to the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory, the United States only stretched as far west as the Mississippi River, excluding Florida. The 828,000 square miles of land purchased helped create 15 of today’s states and effectively doubled the size of the United States. More importantly, gaining control of the Mississippi River secured a critical trade route and blocked France and Spain from any westward expansion of their own.
The sale was prompted in 1802, when Spain gave the Louisiana Territory back to France. France revoked the United States’ access to ports along the Mississippi River, cutting off a critical trade route for the U.S. Jefferson tried to resolve this issue diplomatically, but many people were calling for war. Knowing he had to act fast, Jefferson proposed westward expansion, and because France’s plans to occupy the territory were falling apart, they agreed to sell the land to the United States. The 828,000 square miles were purchased for $15 million, or about three to four cents per acre.
In 1904, an exposition was held to celebrate the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase. The centennial was technically in 1903, but the exposition was held a year later than originally planned due to construction delays. In 1902, Congress authorized the minting of a dollar coin to commemorate the occasion and help fund the exposition. President Theodore Roosevelt signed the bill authorizing the mintage of 250,000 gold dollars for the event. These coins were historic because, even though they weren’t the first commemorative dollars, they were the first struck in gold.
Because the bill lacked design specifications, the numismatic promoter for the exposition, Farran Zerbe, convinced the U.S. Mint to produce two varieties of the coin. He claimed that having multiple varieties would increase the value of the coins and help drive sales. Because of this, the dollars had two different obverse designs, one featuring Jefferson and the other featuring President William McKinley. Jefferson was chosen because he was the president who authorized the Louisiana Purchase, and McKinley was chosen because he was the commander-in-chief who authorized the exposition just a few months before being assassinated.
Both versions of the coin feature the same reverse design, with the different busts on the obverse. Mint engraver Charles Barber designed the Jefferson dollar, using the bust designed by John Reich for the Thomas Jefferson Indian Peace Medal. Barber also designed the McKinley dollar, using the bust he designed for the president's official Mint medal. The reverse of both coins features a description of the denomination (one dollar), the occasion (Louisiana Purchase Exposition), and the location (St. Louis). An olive branch frames the dates 1803-1903 to symbolize the peaceful acquisition of the Louisiana Territory. Even though these coins were struck in 1902, they were minted with the date 1903 to celebrate the centennial. While uncommon, this practice had been used before on other commemorative coins.
The attractiveness of both designs has been slightly debated among collectors. A prominent coin dealer, B. Max Mehl, credited the coins with being “the most attractive of all our commemorative gold dollars.” However, most others completely disagree. Many believe that Jefferson’s features are all wrong, and that he actually looks more like Napoleon Bonaparte, an ironic coincidence since he was the one to sell the Louisiana Territory to Jefferson. They also claimed that the only reason you could recognize McKinley was through his signature bowtie. Other critics complained that the designs lacked any life; they were flat and uninspired.
The coins were minted at the Philadelphia Mint and were all struck in December 1902 and January 1903. However, none of these coins were actually distributed until the exposition in 1904. During the event, Zerbe sold the coins for $3 a piece. They were offered as-is or mounted on souvenir spoons or jewelry pieces. The idea was that more variety would lead to greater interest. Mehl also sold these coins via mail order for many years after the exposition. Despite all the extra effort, only about 35,000 of these coins were sold in total. The rest were returned to the Mint and melted down. With only about 35,000 surviving pieces, these commemorative coins are considered relatively rare to collectors today.
Most of these coins were struck with a regular finish. However, the first 100 coins of each design were minted with a proof finish. These special coins were not available to the public; instead, they were gifted to officials and important friends of the Mint. They were mounted on a piece of cardboard with a special presentation certificate signed by the Superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint, John H. Landis, and the Chief Coiner of the Philadelphia Mint, Rhine R. Freed. These certificates state where and when the coin was minted and highlight that it was one of the first 100 struck from the dies. The coin could be seen encased in wax through a cutout window in the paper certificate, and was held in place by a string and a wax seal of the Philadelphia Mint.
It is extremely rare to see one of these coins still encased in the wax seal today, especially a Jefferson variety. One of these appeared in a Heritage Auctions event in September of 2025, providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own this piece of history. It is incredible to see this piece still in its original presentation packaging. However, it will be even more incredible should the dollar have retained the reflective cameo surfaces stemming from its special strike and thus serving as a high-grade example of a historic coin.