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Description
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...