1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific 50 Dollar Octagonal MS64 NGC. CAC....

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Remarkable Near-Gem 1915-S Panama-Pacific
Fifty Dollar Octagonal

1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific 50 Dollar Octagonal MS64 NGC. CAC. Due to the urgency with which coinage designs were needed for the various issues proposed for the Panama-Pacific Exposition, Mint Director George Roberts fortunately (and wisely) enlisted, with the approval of Treasury Secretary William G. McAdoo, the aid of the Commission of Fine Arts. The commission recommended various artists to submit sketches for different coins and medals, and the Mint engaged Robert Aitken to design the fifty dollar gold pieces, along with Charles Keck for the gold dollar, Evelyn Longman for the quarter eagle, and Paul Manship for the half dollar.
According to Don Taxay's useful An Illustrated History of U.S. Commemorative Coinage, Aitken wrote, in forwarding his preliminary designs to Acting Mint Director T.P. Dewey:

"Dear Sir: Enclosed please to find sketches for the obverse and reverse of the new Fifty-Dollar piece. They are so arranged as to show the application of the circular form to the octagonal.
"By way of an explanation of my design, permit me to state that in order to express in my design the fact that this coin is struck to commemorate the Panama-Pacific Exposition, and as the Exposition stands for all that Wisdom and Industry have produced, I have used as the central motive of the obverse the head of the virgin goddess Minerva. She is the goddess of wisdom, of skill, of contemplation, of spinning and of weaving, of horticulture and agriculture. Moreover she figures prominently upon the seal of the State of California. This head will make a beautiful pattern in the circle and the use of the Dolphins on the octagonal coin do much to add to its charm, as well as express the uninterrupted water route made possible by the Canal.
"Upon the reverse I use the owl, the bird sacred to Minerva, also the symbol of wisdom, perched upon a branch of western pine, behind which is seen the web of the spider, suggesting industry.
"With these simple symbols, all full of beauty in themselves, I feel that I have expressed the larger meaning of the Exposition, its appeal to the intellect.
"I trust that these designs will meet with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury."

Unfortunately, they did not.
While the Fine Arts Commission approved the designs, Assistant Treasury Secretary William Malburn, reversing all previous governmental signals, recommended to Secretary McAdoo that the Treasury Department reject all submissions by "outside" artists. When the artists were so notified, the understandably shocked members of the Fine Arts Commission intervened, asking for specific critiques of the designs. Regarding the fifty dollar gold, McAdoo objected to the spider web, the appropriateness of the figure of Minerva (Pallas Athena), and the "floating dolphins."
A few days later Aitken submitted a revised design that did little more than remove the offending spider web behind the owl. Mint Engraver Charles Barber, ever eager to prove his capacity against superior outside talent, ended up designing the half dollar and one side of the quarter eagle, but Charles Keck, submitting radically revised designs, kept the one dollar gold. Despite the minor modifications to the fifty dollar gold (and undoubtedly with considerable behind-the-scenes intervention), the revised Aitken design was also approved, despite McAdoo's objections.
The present specimen is a wonderful realization of that design, with brilliant luster cascading from the surfaces, which are predominantly orange-gold on each side. Only under a loupe do a few minor contact marks appear, completely undistracting and not easily seen otherwise. The Aitken design is as remarkable and fresh today as it was when launched nearly a century ago (one wonders what the Mint will produce in the year 2015?), and this coin remains a remarkable representation of that historic aquatic event.(Registry values: P7)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# BYLX, PCGS# 7452, GSID# 10216)

Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper
Weight: 83.59 grams
AGW: 2.41875oz
Mintage: 645

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