1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific, Round MS(PCGS#7451)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

3440

等级

MS65

价格

1,199,641

详细说明

Here is a beautiful Gem survivor of this legendary commemorative issue. Vivid rose-orange surfaces are uncommonly attractive in preservation. The texture is uniformly satiny and fully untroubled throughout the fields. This is a wonderful representative of this large and impressive gold coin, one that will please even the most discriminating bidder.<p>The rare Panama-Pacific $50 commemoratives are featured in the popular reference <em>100 Greatest U.S. Coins</em> by Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth, where they are ranked #29 in the fifth (2019) edition. The obverse of this type depicts Liberty as Athena with her helmet pitched up upon her head in the fashion of the ancient Greeks, surrounded by the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above, and the denomination FIFTY DOLLARS below. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST is located in the upper left field. For the reverse the designer, Robert Aitken, featured a large owl facing nearly forward, perched on a thick pine branch, with large pine cones below and in the background. The motto E PLURIBUS UNUM is tucked into the field behind the owl. Matching the obverse is a round band at the perimeter which notes the name and place of the Exposition. On the similar octagonal $50 pieces (but not the round), an extra border with dolphins symbolize the continuous waterway created by the opening of the Panama Canal.<p>The round version of the Panama-Pacific Exposition $50s did not sell as well as the octagonal style at the time of issue in 1915, hence a greater percentage of this type was returned to the Mint for melting. Of the 1,500 round examples struck, only 483 were distributed, making it the rarest collectible U.S. Mint commemorative coin. A good number of those sold, perhaps the majority, went into non-numismatic hands and as a result, they are occasionally seen with quite a bit of handling or other surface problems. Very few remain in full Gem Mint State preservation, as here, making this a significant opportunity for discerning collectors.