1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific 50 Dollar Round MS62 NGC....

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Magnificent 1915-S Panama-Pacific Fifty Dollar Round, MS62

1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific 50 Dollar Round MS62 NGC. The fifty dollar denomination has had an interesting history in United States coinage, though it never reached national circulation. In the original Mint Act, the largest denomination authorized was the eagle; the sum of fifty dollars seemed entirely too large for a single coin. Beginning in 1851, Augustus Humbert worked on behalf of the federal government to strike his fifty-dollar "ingots," which the 2008 Guide Book notes had numerous nicknames, among them the "slug," "quintuple eagle," and "five-eagle piece." The iconic and singular Judd-1548 half union pattern by William Barber, later the source of much scandal when it appeared in private hands, was a Mint prototype that never reached production.
The next appearance of the denomination came in 1915, when the San Francisco Mint coined the Panama-Pacific fifty dollar commemoratives in round and octagonal formats. Finally, while the denomination was not struck again until 1986, it has been in production every year since, as fifty dollars is the nominal face value of the one-ounce gold American Eagle coins. The half-ounce American Eagle platinum pieces, struck since 1997, have a denomination of fifty dollars as well.
More readily collectible in unimpaired Mint State than the nigh-unobtainable half union patterns or the Augustus Humbert ingots, the Panama-Pacific fifties are much-heralded in the numismatic marketplace. Most collectors put a slight premium on the lower-mintage round variant, which has a net production of just 483 pieces. The example offered here displays pleasing yellow-gold surfaces, luminous with a touch of alloy near the owl's right (facing) wing. Though this well struck piece shows a few wispy abrasions on the portrait and in the surrounding fields, the coin's overall visual appeal remains strong, and it is sure to delight the winning bidder.
From The Diemer L. Fife Collection.(Registry values: N7079)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# BYLU, PCGS# 7451, GSID# 10215)

Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper
Weight: 83.59 grams
AGW: 2.65oz
Mintage: 483

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