Classic Commemoratives (Gold)

Congress authorized the Classic Commemorative Gold series between 1903 and 1926 to mark specific historical anniversaries and events. These coins include the 1903 Louisiana Purchase Exposition gold dollar, the 1904 and 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition gold dollars, the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition coins, the 1916 and 1917 McKinley Memorial gold dollars, and the 1922 Grant Memorial gold dollar. Designers included famous names like Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Charles Keck. The government chose these artists to create designs that reflected American progress and heritage. Each coin features unique iconography related to its specific commemorative purpose. The 1903 gold dollar depicts Thomas Jefferson and William McKinley, while the 1915 Panama-Pacific gold dollar shows a worker and an eagle. The series ended in 1926 with the Sesquicentennial Quarter Eagle, which depicts the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Congress stopped the program because the public grew tired of the constant influx of new commemorative issues that often sat unsold at the Treasury.