1903 G$1 LA Purchase, McKinley (Regular Strike)

Series: Gold Commemoratives 1903-1926

PCGS MS68

PCGS MS68

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PCGS MS68

PCGS MS68

PCGS MS68

PCGS MS68

PCGS #:
7444
Designer:
Charles E. Barber
Edge:
Reeded
Diameter:
14.30 millimeters
Weight:
1.70 grams
Mintage:
17,500
Mint:
Philadelphia
Metal:
90% Gold, 10% Copper
Major Varieties

Current Auctions - PCGS Graded
Current Auctions - NGC Graded
For Sale Now at Collectors Corner - PCGS Graded
For Sale Now at Collectors Corner - NGC Graded

Rarity and Survival Estimates Learn More

Grades Survival
Estimate
Numismatic
Rarity
Relative Rarity
By Type
Relative Rarity
By Series
All Grades 9,000 R-3.2 10 / 13 10 / 13
60 or Better 8,000 R-3.4 10 / 13 10 / 13
65 or Better 2,500 R-4.5 7 / 13 TIE 7 / 13 TIE
Survival Estimate
All Grades 9,000
60 or Better 8,000
65 or Better 2,500
Numismatic Rarity
All Grades R-3.2
60 or Better R-3.4
65 or Better R-4.5
Relative Rarity By Type All Specs in this Type
All Grades 10 / 13
60 or Better 10 / 13
65 or Better 7 / 13 TIE
Relative Rarity By Series All Specs in this Series
All Grades 10 / 13
60 or Better 10 / 13
65 or Better 7 / 13 TIE

Condition Census What Is This?

Pos Grade Image Pedigree and History
1 MS68 PCGS grade
1 MS68 PCGS grade
3 MS67+ PCGS grade
3 MS67+ PCGS grade
5 MS67 PCGS grade
5 MS67 PCGS grade
5 MS67 PCGS grade
5 MS67 PCGS grade
5 MS67 PCGS grade
5 MS67 PCGS grade
#1 MS68 PCGS grade
#1 MS68 PCGS grade
#3 MS67+ PCGS grade
#3 MS67+ PCGS grade
#5 MS67 PCGS grade
#5 MS67 PCGS grade
#5 MS67 PCGS grade
#5 MS67 PCGS grade
#5 MS67 PCGS grade
#5 MS67 PCGS grade
Ron Guth:

The Louisiana Purchase Gold Dollars were intended to be a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. The authorizing legislation of June 28, 1902 gave the Secretary of the Treasury broad discretion in selecting the designs for the coin. Thomas Jefferson was chosen as one subject because he was President when the Louisiana Purchase was concluded. William McKinley was chosen for a second subject in part because of agitation by numismatist Farran Zerbe for a second variety, in part because the Louisiana Expo was authorized under McKinley's tenure, and in part because McKinley had been assassinated in 1901.

The 1903 LA Purchase/McKinley Gold Dollar has the distinction of being the second U.S. coin to bear the portrait of a "real" American (the first was the 1900 Lafayette Dollar, with conjoined busts of George Washingtonand the Marquis de Lafayette), and the first coin to bear the portrait of a martyred President (Lincoln didn't make it onto a coin until 1909).

Gem examples of this date are plentiful, as evidenced by the PCGS Population Report and the PCGS CoinFacts Condition Census (CC). The two best examples known of this type are a pair of PCGS MS68s, one of which was certified in 1999, and the other of which is a recent entry into the census. Finding a nice example of this design type should be a relatively easy task.