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HK-291

A majority of the centennials and anniversaries all come from the East Coast because of its early revolutionary war and earlier founding. There are very few early West Coast pieces because of the relatively late founding of many of its States and Cities. One extremely well done eligible So Called Dollars is this extremely well done large 36mm piece from Astoria Oregon. John Jacob Astor was an early Easterner who grew fanatical about the West Coast and the Northwest Territories after reveling in the stories of the earliest 1804 Lewis and Clark Expedition. He spent hours talking with Lewis and Clark and their stories about the Columbia River, the harbor between what is now Washington State and Oregon State, the Columbian Basin, abundant resources, fishing and salmon, fur trade etc. He was convinced vast fortune could be made in the fur trade and that the United States needed to beat out the earliest English and Canadian fur companies for dominance. In 1808/1809 he sent a brother-in-law to St Petersberg Russia to enter into pacts for mutual good to gain an alliance with the Russians at Ft Ross Calif (which never happened) and got caught up right in the middle of the War of 1812. Notwithstanding in 1810 he sent an large force overland to basically use the Lewis and Clark route to staff Ft Astoria where the Columbia River emptied into the Pacific Ocean. He sent a small force by ship of experienced craftsmen and builders to build Ft Astoria and have it up and ready when the overland party arrived. He accomplished making Ft Astoria one of the earliest West Coast settlements (1811) and probably the earliest West Coast 100 year Centennial qualified So Called Dollar. Seldom seen token that is not readily obtainable.

Bidding would indicate at least two people think it is not brass. Are HK-291 brass or gilt?

Does the HK-291 in the Heritage sale look like it is made from a metal other than brass? It doesn't look like brass to me in the photos.

It sure does look different from the shiny brass HK-291 one usually sees? (link to the HK-291 on the H&K book site) http://www.so-calleddollars.com/Events/Pan_American_Exposition.html Could the one on the block at Heritage ( http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1198&lotNo=11983 ) be copper ?