Congress approved the production of 250,000 gold dollars to commemorate this memorable event. The Mint struck two different 1903 Louisiana Purchase Gold Dollars. One had a portrait of Thomas Jefferson on the obverse, while the second on had a portrait of William McKinley. Both coin designs carry the same reverse design. At the Exposition Fairground, each 1903 Louisiana Purchase Gold Dollar was being sold by Zerbe at a price of $3 each. Unfortunately, the entire mintage of the coins failed to sell out. Ten years after the Exposition, Zerbe continued to sell them at a lower price than the original $3 issue price. By 1914, at least 215,000 coins still remained unsold and were later melted by the U.S. Mint. Between the 2 designs, only 35,000 were sold!