Before the Denver Mint was built and put into operation, the need for a one dollar silver coin in the great state of Colorado was filled by Joseph Lesher who resided in Victor, Colorado. The years of his contribution to eliminate the lack of a dollar coin in the area were 1901 and '02. Now, in actuality, though the coins he made carried the denomination of "dollar" they, in fact, were merchant tokens. Before he minted the dollars he had met with the business owners of the area for three reasons: one was to ascertain the need of a dollar coin, to ensure the merchants were interested in purchasing an inventory of them.and to get input on the composition of the coins. All answers were in the affirmative and the coin was to be 950 fine silver alloyed with copper. In 1901 two unique concepts gave the coins greater acceptance, i.e. the dollars were numbered and a blank space was incorporated at the bottom of the coins in which the names of the businessmen who bought the coins could be stamped. All Lesher dollars are rare, some quite rare and some extremely rare. Despite the scarcity, I located a merchant offering three (3) of them. The following three links are to his website. I am including all three links to the three varieties because they show the coin in very clear imagery and, by the time you read this, one or more coins may be sold. When linking to the images, if you click the coins' image you will bring a new window with a larger view of the coin. Here's those links: http://www.hallenbeckcoingallery.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=51&products_id=3335 http://www.hallenbeckcoingallery.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=51&products_id=3334 http://www.hallenbeckcoingallery.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=51&products_id=3751 Hope you enjoyed the tour, Clinker
I should visit his home in Victor. I think the ANA owns it as of now? I think I read in CW in this last issue that D. Bowers and someone else donated the money to purchase the home. Either way, Victor's not too far from Denver and it would make a nice day trip.
clembo Thanks for reading and learning...it's always refreshing to me when someone comments in the affirmative...! Clinker
Clinker, Thank you once again for a VERY interesting thread! Yer da best! One thing though. The first 2 coins on the list above have a value of $1.25. What's with that? I'm not trying to be a smart ass, just asking.....OK? Sorry if it sounded that way. swick
swick In 1900 it was decided by the merchants, since the coin contained so much silver, and Lesher gave them such a good deal in minting the coins, they would accept the coins for $1.25 in merchandise. In '01, because of a large discovery of silver in Colorado, silver dropped a bit in price thus the redemption value dropped to $1.00. That, also, made it necessary to add incentives to the coin (token) like the addition of the space to stamp the merchant's name. Clinker
I saw thee recently. The next discussion - how diffeern are they reallt from the NORFED/Liberty Dollars of today? An interesting comparison to consider. (I haven't collected any Liberty Dollars yet, but I am considering it after seeing the Lesher Dollars and the respect and interest they command now).
