1905 Gold $1.00 Lewis & Clark BU

Coin Highlights

• Mintage of only 10,025 pieces.
• Designed by Charles Barber.
• Obverse: Depicts a profile of explorer Meriwether Lewis.
• Reverse: Depicts a profile of explorer William Clark.

In 1804 Thomas Jefferson's personal secretary and Army Captain Meriwether Lewis as well as Lewis' friend, Captain William Clark, began a long journey westward to explore the newly acquired territory. It wasn't until September of 1806 that they returned after nearly two and a half years had passed and both had been rumored and believed dead. One hundred years later, a centennial celebration took place in St. Louis, Missouri to commemorate the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, and the following year, in Portland, Oregon, Lewis and Clark themselves were commemorated. In addition to the funding of these two celebrations, the bill that was passed in early 1904 also set a maximum mintage of 250,000 Gold dollars that would bear the likenesses of both Lewis and Clark. It became the first and only U.S. coin to be double headed. No coin prior or since has had that distinction. The coin was designed and modeled by the Chief Mint Engraver Charles Barber which depicts a portrait of Lewis on the obverse and Clark on the Reverse. All of the Lewis & Clark Dollars were struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1904 but remained in the mint's vault, unreleased, until the June of 1905. Due to poor sales in Missouri at $3.00 per coin, they were sold again in Oregon at $2.00 per coin. However, that did not save the fabled coin as public interest waned. In the end, over 40,000 1904 & 1905 Dollars were melted leaving a net mintage of roughly 10,000 coins per date.