Colorado Mountain Events & So-Called Money
In this week's newsletter: What to do in the mountains this weekend, updates from the Coloradotopia Archives Collection, and mountain shuttle deals.
1906 Southwest Expedition Medals HK-336 (Oxidized Silver) & HK-338 (Bronze)
A pair of commemorative medals—also known as so-called dollars—were added to the collection this week. These medals celebrate Zebulon Pike’s discovery of Pikes Peak 100 years earlier.
Congress authorized up to 100,000 of these to be struck in bronze. They were supposed to be struck at the Denver Mint, but were ultimately struck at the Philadelphia Mint instead. Just over 10,000 were minted, in a combination of silver, bronze, gold-plated, and silver proof examples. They are commemorative medals, so while they did come from the U.S. Mint, they have no face value.
These medals were well-documented in So-Called Dollars by Harold E. Hibler and Charles V. Kappen. This is where they get their industry-wide recognized designations of HK-336 and HK-338 etc. There is also a lot of research on these medals published on the Coloradotopia website.
Read the in-depth history behind the minting of these medals here.
Berthoud Pass Inn Photo Negative, c. 1925
The image on this photo negative was captured sometime shortly after the Berthoud Pass Inn opened in 1925.
Below, you can see what the final developed image looks like. Notice the wood planks still being stored on the right side.
Find more discussion and higher resolution versions here.
Also read: The History of the Berthoud Pass Inn and Berthoud Pass Lodge
Are you looking for something to do in the mountains this weekend? Here are a few select events for you.
Keystone’s Wine and Jazz Festival
Saturday and Sunday, 1 pm to 5 pm
River Run Village, Keystone
Disney’s Frozen - The Broadway Musical, Grand Lake
Saturday, 6 pm and select days throughout July and August
Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, Grand Lake
Copper Mountain Cleanup & Copper Live Free Music
Saturday Morning & Afternoon
Center Village
Silverton Concert Series
Friday, 6 pm - 9 pm
Memorial Park, Silverton
Steamboat Springs 52nd Annual Art in the Park
Friday & Saturday, 9 am - 5 pm
West Lincoln Park, Steamboat Springs
DIA Mountain Shuttles - $75 off Denver airport shuttles w/ code “coloradotopia75” at Ridethepowder.com.