1904 Lewis & Clark $1.00 Gold Commemorative
PCGS (MS67)

The 1904, 1905 Lewis & Clark $1 gold commemoratives are among the scarcest of the early gold commemoratives. They're virtually impossible to obtain. When I saw this 1904 example in MS67 at the recent mid-winter ANA, I bought the coin immediately. The coin would fit perfectly in a "finest known" commemorative gold set or investment portfolio. It has tremendous upside potential.

The history surrounding this commemorative is fascinating. I can across the article below that I thought was spectacular. It continues on to the website of Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc. which has just great historical stuff on the Lewis and Clark exploration.

The History of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

written by
Irving W. Anderson
Past President of the
Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc.

Prelude: to May 1804

In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson won approval from Congress for a visionary project that was to become one of American history's greatest adventure stories. Jefferson wanted to know if Americans could journey overland to the Pacific Ocean following two rivers, the Missouri and the Columbia, which flow east and west, respectively, from the Rocky Mountains. If the sources of the rivers were nearby, Jefferson reasoned that American traders would have a superior transportation route to help them compete with British fur companies pressing southward from Canada.

On February 28, 1803, the Congress appropriated funds for a small U.S. Army unit to explore the Missouri and Columbia rivers and tell the western Indian tribes that traders would soon come to buy their furs. The explorers were to make a detailed report on western geography, climate, plants and animals, and to study the customs and languages of the Indians. Plans for the expedition were almost complete when the President learned that France offered to sell all of Louisiana Territory to the United States. This transfer, which was completed within a year, doubled the area of the United States. It meant that Jefferson's Army expedition could travel all the way to the crest of the Rockies on American soil, no longer needing permission from the former French owners.

Jefferson selected as leader for the exploring mission an Army captain, 28-year-old Meriwether Lewis. The Jeffersons and Lewises had been neighbors near Charlottesville, Virginia, where Lewis was born August 18, 1774. As a boy he had spent long hours tramping and hunting in the woods and acquiring a remarkable knowledge of native plants and animals. He served in the Virginia Militia when President Washington called it out in 1794 to quell the Whiskey Rebellion. Lewis was having a successful career in the regular army when the newly elected Jefferson summoned him in 1801 to work as his private secretary in the "President's House."

Lewis chose a former army comrade, 32-year-old William Clark, to be co-leader of the expedition. Clark was born August 1, 1770, in Caroline County, Virginia. At the age of 14, he moved with his family to Kentucky where they were among the earliest settlers. William Clark was the youngest brother of General George Rogers Clark, a hero of the Revolutionary War. William served under General "Mad Anthony" Wayne during the Indian wars in the Northwest Territory.

In preparing for the expedition, Lewis visited the president's scientific friends in Philadelphia for instruction in natural sciences, astronomical navigation and field medicine. He also was given a long list of questions to ask of western Indians concerning their daily lives. It was during these organizing endeavors that Lewis, for "20$" purchased Seaman, his "dogg of the newfoundland breed" to accompany him to the Pacific.

Lewis and Clark reached their staging point at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers near St. Louis in December 1803. They camped for the winter at the mouth of Wood River, on the Illinois side of the Mississippi, opposite the entrance to the Missouri River. The two captains recruited young woodsmen and enlisted soldiers who volunteered from nearby army outposts. Over the winter final selections were made of proven men. In the spring, the expedition's roster comprised approximately 45 including some military personnel and local boatmen who would go only part way. Lewis recorded that the mouth of Wood River was "to be considered the point of departure" for the westward journey.

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