1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific 50 Dollar Octagonal MS64 PCGS....

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1915-S Octagonal Panama-Pacific Fifty Dollar
Stunning MS64 Example

1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific 50 Dollar Octagonal MS64 PCGS. Finely textured champagne-gold surfaces are loaded with satiny luster. Strike is strong, with only the faintest hint of weakness on the owl's feathers. A few small ticks pose no distraction, supporting PCGS's near-Gem designation.

The tandem motifs of Athena (Greek) or Minerva (Roman) and her owl date to as early as the sixth century BCE and were struck in various forms for more than 450 years. The classical Athenian Owl tetradrachms, those usually seen, were largely minted during the second half of the fourth century BCE and were struck in high relief on substantial 17-gram silver planchets. To this day, the design remains one of the most iconic coins ever produced, and has served as inspiration for new coinage issues for centuries. The stunning high relief of the Athenian owls, combined with their superior artistry, famously inspired President Theodore Roosevelt's efforts to redesign American coins to raise their relief and improve their artistry in the first decade of the 20th century. The crown jewel of these efforts is the 1907 High Relief Saint-Gaudens double eagle.

However, the most obvious American coin to have drawn on the iconography of the Athenian Owl tetradrachms was Robert Aitken's 1915-S Panama-Pacific fifty dollar gold piece. The obverse features Minerva, the Roman Goddess of wisdom and industry, who also appears on the California state seal, while her sacred owl appears on the reverse. Treasury Secretary William McAdoo complained that while the design was "appropriate enough for the Greek coin from which it is evidently copied," it was inappropriate as a commemorative for the San Francisco Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Aitken pushed back hard, and the design was accepted with minimal modification.

This is an example of the Octagonal type, which was distributed to the extent of 645 coins. Its distinctive shape is an homage to the Humbert fifties that circulated during the time of the California Gold Rush, recalling a formative chapter in California history that set the state on its path to host the World's Fair just a single lifetime after the first gold was discovered. Listed among the 100 Greatest U.S. Coins. PCGS reports 34 numerically finer grading events (12/25).
Ex: Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 2/2022), lot 3389.(Registry values: P7)

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

Weight: 83.59 grams

Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper

View Certification Details from PCGS