 The appropriation did not cure the fair's financial woes, as fewer than 400,000 were sold at the premium price, and some 2,000,000 were released into circulation, where they remained as late as the 1950s.The pieces can be purchased in circulated condition for less than $20; coins in near-pristine state sell for about $1,000, far less than the $10,000 the makers of the Remington Typewriter paid as a publicity stunt in 1892 for the first specimen struck.In 1890, Congress passed legislation giving federal sponsorship to an exposition to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World.