Estimated Price:

$25,000 - $35,000

Realized Price:

$37,375

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Panama Pacific Exposition Gold Fifty Dollar Piece, 1915-S, Octagonal, VERY CHOICE BRILLIANT UNCIRCULATED, a virtual Gem. A perfect, and gorgeous, accompaniment to the round specimen offered above. Both sides of this example are nicely toned in a rich, medium yellow gold shade. The fields are frosty and lustrous. The piece has escaped the stray marks and nicks usually associated with these massive octagonals. Surfaces again show the rich swirling pattern of die finish which is evidence of the freshness of these dies. The octagonal Fifty Dollar Coin was the more popular one, because it resembled the Gold Rush era slugs that some of the older fair goers could remember. Even so, only 645 of the 1500 struck were actually sold. The balance was melted. Panama-Pacific Exposition Commemorative Coins The Panama-Pacific Exposition, the last of a long string of World's Fairs and Expositions held around the United States since 1876, to celebrate the country's "coming of age." Although all the expositions had a stated theme, the true reason was a chance to show off to the world what an industrial and artistic giant the United States was becoming. The coins were the brainchild of Farran Zerbe, a man widely regarded as the P.T. Barnum of numismatics. The first of the coins were not even in production until the Expo was half over, and therefore despite receiving 19 million visitors the sale of the commemorative sets were not enormously successful. The excessive prices charged by the promoters, and the lateness of issuance ensured that the majority of the coins was returned to the Mint for melting. While the designs were vilified by contemporary critics, the designs, by such artists as Charles Keck, Evelyn Beatrice Longman and Robert Aitken are most successful, and again conjure up images of Classical antiquity.