| The 1893 World Columbian Exposition held in Chicago to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World was one of the largest and most popular World’s Fairs in history. Many numismatic items were struck in connection with the Columbian Exposition from the first commemorative coins of the United States to nearly a hundred different so-called dollars. This is one of the so-called Exhibition Palace Dollars from the Columbian Exposition featuring Manufactures and Liberal Arts and the Electrical Building which is listed as HK-203 in the Hibler-Kappen book on So-Called Dollars and has been graded MS65PL by NGC. The obverse features three scenes; the Casino and Music Hall, the Imitation Battleship and the Manufactures and Liberal Arts building with notes that it was 787 by 1687 feet on 51 acres and cost $1,500,000. The reverse is a detailed rendition of the Electrical Building with notes that it was 345 feet wide, 700 feet long and cost $401,000. This piece is bright white and very lustrous. The piece also has strong prooflike mirrored fields with frosty devices. This piece is one of the finest known examples of the HK-203 graded by NGC as the only MS65PL with no PL examples grading higher; a single non-PL MS66 example is listed in the NGC census. Overall, this is one of the finest examples, and maybe the finest example known of this so-called dollar from the Columbian Exposition. |
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