BOOK REVIEW: FORGOTTEN COLORADO SILVER

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V20 2017 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 20, Number 29, July 16, 2017, Article 5

John and Nancy Wilson submitted this review of the new book on Lesher Dollars. Thanks! -Editor

Forgotten Colorado Silver “Joseph Lesher’s Defiant Coins,” Authors: Robert D. Leonard Jr., Kenneth L. Hallenbeck & Adna G. Wilde, Jr., The History Press, Charleston, SC, 2017.
Reviewed by John and Nancy Wilson, NLG

Forgotten Colorado Silver, “Joseph Lesher’s Defiant Coins,” was authored by Robert D. Leonard Jr., Kenneth L. Hallenbeck & Adna G. Wilde, Jr. It was published by The History Press, Charleston, SC, in 2017 with 126 pages, black and white photos and is softbound. Mr. Leonard has been studying Lesher Dollars since the 1960s. The reference is an in-depth study of Lesher Dollars and the issuers who used them in every day commerce. The authors say the person most responsible for seeing this new, authoritative account of the Lesher Dollars through to completion is Robert S. Kincaid. Mr. Wilde’s research on the subject was used extensively.

The Cripple Creek mining district, covered in the first chapter, told how the town got its name in the 1870s. Robert Womack was the first to discover gold in Cripple Creek and a photo of him is shown. The amounts of gold and silver produced in the city is given. There is a discussion about how the Constitution gives Congress the power to coin money and regulate its value. In 1830 Templeton Reid tested the government monopoly on coining money. His mint, which eventually failed, was soon followed by other mints mostly in the Western states. Also discussed was President Cleveland repealing the Sherman Act, and William Jennings Bryan's advocacy for free silver.

Free Silver advocate Joseph Lesher was a pioneer, promoter and minter who was born on July 12, 1838 and passed away in Victor, CO, on the 4th of July in 1918. His early life is covered from his birth in Ohio, military service, and his move to Colorado in 1865 and his opening a mine near Central, CO., and his interests in others. His occupation was listed in the records as being in real estate, though his diversified interests included an ice cream stand in Mound City.

Between 1900 and 1903, he worked with the “Referendum Dollar scheme.” They even had government bureaucracy back in his days. He moved to Nevada to prospect for silver in 1906 and his mine was found to have 5000 ounces of silver to the ton, but he never took advantage of it. He was still prospecting at the age of 75. His great financial problems began in 1914 and when he died in 1918 his wife wrote the Bureau of Pensions saying that she didn’t have enough money for his funeral services. Mrs. Lesher sent a letter to F. Zerbe in 1934 stating that, no one took him to be over 65 years old and his hair was not grey.

With the repeal of the Sherman Act in 1893, Lesher “decided that if the Treasury wouldn’t buy any more silver to coin into dollars, then he would.” By 1900 his “Referendum Dollar,” came into fruition and Joseph Lesher became more than a footnote in history.

After the repeal of the Sherman Act in 1893 and as a result, the price of silver dropping, Colorado was devastated. The Colorado Governor in 1893 wanted the state to buy silver, and send it to Mexico to be coined into dollars, returned to the state and placed into circulation. His colleagues in the legislature didn’t like the idea and called them “fandango dollars.”

“The Lesher Referendum Dollar was soon minted; though the 1864 Act forbade silver coinage of any kind. Also described are the trials and tribulations of minting the Lesher Dollars, the sale of them, many newspaper articles, the patents and designs. He was able to foil all the efforts of the Secret Service to shut him down. No Lesher Dollars were ever seized; all that he lost was his first set of dies.”

The authors did a masterful job of compiling in one place all the known information on the issuers of the dollars. They also went the extra mile in bringing new and valuable information on the subject. Several chapters in the reference cover everything regarding the issuers' involvement with the Lesher Referendum Dollars starting with the A. B. Bumstead issues, other types followed by J. M. Slusher, Sam Cohen, D. Q. Klein & Co., Geo. Mullen, Boyd Park, W. C. Alexander, Goodspeed & Co., J. E. Nelson & Co., W. F. White Merc. Co, H. Stein, H. H. Rosser and A. W. Clark. The authors give known census and research figures but do not give exact rarities (R-1 to R-10), which constantly change. The authors do have estimates of original mintage in every case.

Farran Zerbe was among the earliest to research and collect Lesher Dollars, which were catalogued in the American Journal of Numismatics in 1917 and listed by Zerbe numbers. Lesher dollar dies are listed by Zerbe number. The mintages mentioned by Lesher in 1913 were between 2000 to 3000. The following year Zerbe was told by Lesher that 3500 were struck and Zerbe concluded that about 3000 pieces were struck. In 1978 Wilde knew of just 384 pieces, but as of the date of this writing the total is now about 600. It might be impossible to obtain a complete type set at present. However, a set of one of each major type--Zerbe 1, inscription only, Zerbe 2 or 3--Bumstead type, and an Imprint type of any issuers, is certainly possible.

This is the most comprehensive listing of the issuers ever written. The Bibliography gives you the sources of information for this reference. In summary the book is great for both the collector and non-collector of Lesher dollars.

For information on obtaining this reference, it is listed at $21.99 and can be purchased from Arcadia Publishing, 420 Wando Park Boulevard, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 – www.arcadiapublishing.com. Also at these locations: Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Books-A-Million, or any bookstore. Right now, Amazon has it at $17.22 + shipping (free for Prime subscribers).

I found some time Tuesday while killing time before my Nummis Nova dinner meeting to read a couple chapters in the book. I also enjoyed the reference to "fandango dollars". Even more intriguing is the fate of the unaccounted-for two-thirds of the original mintage. Since they are such a distinctive item it's hard to believe most would have been melted over the years. As the authors note on page 43, 600 examples are known today. "This is less that a third of the total issued. Where are the rest?"

One problem with the book is the photos of the Lesher dollars themselves - they are smaller and darker than one would expect. Author Leonard was disappointed with the final product, which didn't meet his expectations from the galleys he'd seen. Nevertheless, this long-awaited book is a tremendous addition to the hobby, and given its low price there is no reason why anyone with the slightest interest in U.S. numismatics shouldn't get themselves a copy. -Editor