Owner Comments:
(Please see the Jefferson gold dollar write-up to review the history of the Louisiana Purchase.)
The 1903 McKinley Louisiana Purchase gold dollar was issued in conjunction with the Jefferson gold dollar. The most often cited reason for the issuance of this coin was that President McKinley signed the law that authorized the Louisiana Exposition as a worlds’ fair, but other factors undoubtedly influenced the existence of this coin. In the wake of the assassination of President McKinley at the Buffalo Exposition in 1901, there was still a large outpouring of shock, sadness and morning for the President. The general mood at the time was not unlike that many Americans felt after the death of President John F. Kennedy.
Although the estimated sales of the McKinley gold dollar are said to be the same as the Jefferson piece, fewer examples of this piece are available today. Perhaps more of them were spent or returned and melted in subsequent years, but it is your author’s opinion that fewer of them were sold. At any rate it is a little harder to find a high grade McKinley gold dollar than it is to find a superbly preserved Jefferson piece.
Charles Barber designed this coin. The obverse was based upon a medal that Barber had previously designed for McKinley. Unlike the 1916-7 McKinley commemorative gold dollar, this piece bears an image of the President that is much closer to one most members of the public had seen. Nevertheless, Augustus St. Gaudens, who did not care for Barber’s artwork or his abilities, described it as “deadly.”
An interesting touch is the inclusion of a carnation in the President’s lapel. McKinley always insisted upon being well groomed and dapper for all of his photographs, and he was noted for always wearing a carnation. In fact the flower became such a symbol for his presidency that it was used on one of his political buttons during his 1900 re-election campaign.
The fame on the right shows three McKinley campaign items. The McKinley carnation button is shown in the upper left, and jugate (presidential and vice presidential candidates shown side-by-side on the same button) suspended on a ribbon of McKinley and his 1896 running mate, Garret Hobart, is shown at the right. In lower left corner there is a stud that the McKinley campaign issued when he was running for Congress from Ohio. The piece shows that he favored bi-metallism at that time. When he ran for President, McKinley based his campaign around his opposition to the concept. Clearly a yearn for the White House can cause a candidate to radically alter his positions!