974

Lot 0974 1900 Lafayette $1 NGC MS66

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:5,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
Lot 0974 1900 Lafayette $1 NGC MS66
Wonderful lustrous surfaces are flourishing with rich satiny and silver brilliance. Well struck for the date, with all reverse details present, though nothing approaching "full" can be said if only because that pesky boot on Lafayette's statue tends to lack a little fine detail on most of these. Fully struck coins of this date are rare, but given the stellar quality of the present coin, that is of little consequence.

To anyone who may give a look of inquiry in learning that America commemorated a French adventurer and Revolutionary War hero on its coinage, we have this to report: America's first Commemorative Silver Dollar was by Charles E. Barber after an engraving of Houdon's bust of Washington. On the reverse, Barber depicted the Lafayette equestrian statue at the Paris Exposition of 1900. Lafayette Dollars were sold to defray part of the cost of completing Paul Wayland Bartlett's statue of the French General, then under construction in Paris for display at the exposition. Out of an authorization for 50,000 pieces, 36,000 were sold, the remainder being melted.