1922 Grant Memorial Gold Dollar. Star. MS-65 (PCGS).

1922 Grant Memorial Gold Dollar. Star. MS-65 (PCGS).，The lovely golden-orange surfaces support a bold strike and an original, fully Gem quality appearance. In 1921, the Ulysses S. Grant Centenary Memorial Association was established to raise funds to coordinate a series of special events and observances. The Association planned to fund the creation of monuments, civic buildings and roads to honor Grant as well as celebratory activities through the sales of commemorative silver half dollars and gold dollars. Approved by Congress in February 1922, Laura Gardin Fraser was tapped to design the coin. Wife of the designer of the Buffalo nickel, James Earle Fraser, she had already designed the 1921 Alabama Centennial half dollar. The Grant design, shared across both denominations, bore a bust of Grant on the obverse and a representation of his childhood home in Ohio surrounded by trees. The Association adopted an idea that was employed on the Alabama and Missouri commemorative half dollars, the placement of a special mark on a select number of coins to help increase sales. Here, the mark was a small star placed above Grants name on the obverse. Originally intended to be used only on the gold dollar, a small number of half dollars were also struck with the star. The gold dollar was a success and the total authorized mintage of 10,000 coins -- 5,000 of each with and without the star -- were all sold out at the retail price of $3.50 or $3/coin. Despite the revenue generated, none of the planned monuments were built, though the festivities did go on as planned. Thanks to their small size and careful preservation, most examples today are at the Choice and Gem Mint State level.，From the A.J. Vanderbilt Collection.，