Complete 36-piece Hart's Coins of the Golden West Presented in the original Shreve Copper Frame

Hart’s “Coins of the Golden West” is a rare 36-piece set of privately struck gold souvenir tokens (not official U.S. coins) marketed by M.E. Hart & Co. of San Francisco around the time of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE).

These small tokens resemble California fractional gold pieces in size and shape. They are typically struck in 10-karat gold or finer (Alaska-Yukon examples can approach ~21 kt). Most carry dates from 1897–1915, though some California pieces are backdated as early as 1849. They were sold as souvenirs commemorating Western gold-rush regions and are listed in the Guide Book of United States Coins (Red Book).

Composition of a Complete Set

A standard 36-piece set consists of:

• 12 Alaska pieces (including Miner, Eskimo/Parka Head, and Indian types in round and octagonal formats).
• 12 California pieces (Indian and Minerva types, round and octagonal).
• 3 each from Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

They are issued in groups of three denominations/sizes per design type, commonly marked 1/4, 1/2, and ONE (or sometimes Pinch, DWT, etc.). Designs feature Indian heads (with headdresses), Minerva (with “Eureka”), a figure in a parka, a prospector/miner, state seals/arms, bears, and California poppies.

History and Attribution

The set is linked to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) in San Francisco (1915) and continued sales into 1916. Farran Zerbe (Director of the Coin and Medal Department at the exposition, and a prominent numismatist) is widely regarded as the driving force behind the marketing. He sold them from his booth alongside official PPIE medals and commemoratives. The original frames (10 × 8 inches, copper, with purple satin ribbons, glass, and velvet) were made by Shreve & Co. and closely match those used for PPIE commemorative sets.

“M.E. Hart” is mysterious. Many researchers connect it to Mary Elizabeth Hart (a well-known businesswoman, Alaska promoter, lecturer on Native Alaskan culture, and manager of Alaska exhibits at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition and related events). She had ties to jewelers involved in similar tokens and moved in the same exposition circles as Zerbe. Some evidence suggests Zerbe may have used the name as a front (possibly to distance himself from souvenir-gold issues, which some contemporary numismatists viewed skeptically). Sales appear to have been modest; only about a half-dozen original framed sets are known today.

Individual tokens and die varieties are studied by specialists (resources such as MEHartGold.com catalog them). They appear in NGC/PCGS registries and custom sets.

Rarity and Value

Complete sets—especially in the original frame—are scarce and considered a “crown jewel” among Western/pioneer gold and so-called dollar collectors. Auction results for complete sets include:

• Heritage Auctions (January 2017): framed set sold for $35,250.
• Holabird Western Americana (2018): ~$41,572.
• Kagin’s (2020): high-grade NGC-certified set (mostly MS 66–68, many finest or tied for finest) offered with individual starting bids totaling $27,200; the complete set realized $60,000 (including buyer’s premium).
• Other reports mention figures up to $135,000 for top examples.

Individual pieces trade from a few hundred dollars into the low thousands depending on type, grade, and rarity (some die varieties are R7–R8).