Owner Comments:
New York artist, Robert I. Aitken, designed the round and octagonal Panama Pacific $50 commemorative gold pieces. These large and impressive coins are the flagship pieces not only for the Panama Pacific set but for the entire series of United States commemorative gold coins. The $50 denomination was chosen to honor the massive $50 gold “slugs” that private minters issued during the California gold rush period.
These coins were struck at the San Francisco mint on a medal press that the Philadelphia mint shipped to the west coast especially for this coinage. The first pieces, a group of 100 octagonal coins, were struck at a special ceremony on June 15, 1915. Subsequently the entire authorized mintage of 1,500 round and 1,500 octagonal pieces were struck. In addition to the authorized mintage, nine octagonal and ten round pieces were also struck and destroyed as part of the Assay Commission process.
The obverse of both coins featured the goddess Minerva who stands for “wisdom, skill, contemplation, spinning, weaving, and agriculture and horticulture.” The reverse featured an owl, which is sacred to Minerva, and symbolic of wisdom. The owl is perched on the branch of a western pine.
The reaction to these coins was mixed. Some critics thought that the coins were attractive, but others were disappointed by the fact that both coins carried basically the same designs. Some people thought that given the space available, some scene from the Panama Canal should have been included on one of the coins.
At any rate the $100 price tag for each piece prevented the vast majority of Americans from even considering the purchase of one of these coins. In 1915 the average family income was $687. Despite that fact that the half dollar, gold dollar and quarter eagle were included in the $100 price, sales for the $50 gold pieces were disappointing. Ultimately 855 octagonal and 1,017 round $50 gold pieces were melted leaving a net mintage of 645 for the octagonal coin and 483 for the round piece.
The round Panama Pacific $50 gold was reminiscent of the $50 gold “Slugs” that were issued by business such as Wass, Molitor & Co. This piece, along with the octagonal coin, were the largest and heaviest coins ever issued by the United States mint system to the general public. Given that the round shape was not unusual, sales for the round Panama Pacific coins were not as high as those for the octagonal piece. Today the round $50 gold carries a higher collector value than the octagonal piece.
The round Panama Pacific $50 gold shown above is a very high end example for the MS-64 grade. It has very few marks and vibrant luster. As such it is a very desirable example of this, the rarest of all United States commemorative coins.