So Called Dollars

This article is taken from the book So-Called Dollars by Harold E. Hibler and Charles V. Kappen.

For the last 85 years or more, coin collectors and dealers alike have used the term "so-called dollars" to designate metals of near-dollar size; at first of a commemorative or exposition nature, later of a monetary kind.  Extension of the term now includes certain kindred pieces not otherwise classified specifically.  Perhaps the first written use of the label was by Thomas Elder, New York coin dealer in his sale of Sept 27-28, 1912, in describing Lot 395, the Theodore Roosevelt medal of the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis.  Such items long since have grown in popularity and importance to the extent that they have achieved an independent status and represent a separate and distinct series of their own.

Since the days of the Roman Empire, medals have been prized for their aesthetic value and for centuries artists have found an eternal challenge in this medium of expression.  Certainly in our country there have been numerous outstanding sculptors, known as such to connoisseurs of American art but identified by numismatists largely as coin designers or medalists.  The very freedom of thought and expression provided these artists has produced many so-called dollars of diverse and rare beauty.  Pursuit of such a collection, while sometimes difficult is most rewarding.