Forgotten Colorado Silver: Joseph Lesher's Defiant Coins

At the turn of the last century, miner Joseph Lesher attempted to raise the price of silver by privately minting octagonal Referendum souvenir medal coins with values of $1.25 or $1. They were common in Victor, Cripple Creek, Denver and other places in Colorado in the days after William Jennings Bryan fought unsuccessfully for free silver. Surviving an initial dust—up with the Secret Service, Lesher found a loophole to place them in circulation in 1900 and 1901. Today, coin collectors pay m...