The Louisiana Purchase Exposition dollar was a commemorative gold coin series dated 1903. The coins were designed by Charles E. Barber, Chief Engraver of the United States Bureau of the Mint. The pieces were issued to promote the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in 1904 in St. Louis. They were struck in two varieties at the urging of exposition authorities, including numismatic promoter Farran Zerbe: one depicted former president Thomas Jefferson, and the other, the recently assassinated president William McKinley. The price for each variety was $3, the same cost whether sold as a coin, or mounted in jewelry or on a spoon. Although not the first American commemorative coins, they were the first in gold. They were intended to help fund the Exposition, originally scheduled to open in 1903. Congress authorized the coins in 1902, but they did not sell well, and most were later melted. They regained their issue price by 1915, and are now worth between a few hundred and several thousand dollars, depending on condition.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase_Exposition_dollar

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

313:

By defeating the armies of his rival Maximinus II, Roman emperor Licinius unified the eastern half of the empire under his rule. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licinius

1598:

King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, granting freedom of religion to the Huguenots. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Nantes

1803:

The United States purchased France's claim to the Louisiana Territory (flag raising ceremony pictured) for 78 million francs, or less than US$.03 per acre ($.07/ha). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase

1943:

Second World War: The Royal Navy submarine HMS Seraph began Operation Mincemeat to deceive Germany about the upcoming invasion of Sicily. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat

2009:

A gunman went on a shooting spree at the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy, a public university in Baku, killing 12 people before committing suicide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_State_Oil_Academy_shooting

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

sudorific: 1. In a state of perspiration; covered in sweat; sudoriferous, sweaty. 2. (chiefly pharmacology) That produces sweating. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sudorific

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We don’t think the world can be Woodstock … Who’d think the world could be a perpetual carnival? But we do think that the world could rediscover values that used to be automatically produced by culture but aren’t anymore because culture is subject to the commodification in our world. Everything is sold back to us, targeted to demographics. What we have to do is make progress in the quality of connection between people, not the quantity of consumption.   --Larry Harvey https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Larry_Harvey