LOT #3222 |
Current Bid: $33,000
1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific 50 Dollar Octagonal AU58 PCGS....
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Description
1915-S Panama-Pacific Fifty Dollar, AU58
Iconic Octagonal Commemorative
1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific 50 Dollar Octagonal AU58 PCGS. Ex:
The Peh Family Collection. Fully lustrous and brilliant with satiny
yellow-gold surfaces and splashes of rose toning on the obverse.
Faint traces of friction or rub are evident only on the highest
design points, along with a few minor hairlines and abrasions.The design for the octagonal and round fifty dollar gold coins were essentially identical, although eight dolphins appear in the obverse and reverse margins of the octagonal format coin, the only classic commemorative ever issued in a shape other than round. The obverse depicts a representation of Minerva wearing a helmet and facing to the left, with the motto IN GOD WE TRUST just above, the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around, the denomination FIFTY DOLLARS below, and the date expressed in Roman numerals as MCMXV. The reverse motif depicts an owl perched upon a branch of pine, with the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM in the field, and PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION SAN FRANCISCO around. According to contemporary publicity, the owl was sacred to Minerva.
Two reviews of the design were published by Dave Bowers in his Commemorative Coins of the United States. The first was taken from the 1916 volume of the American Journal of Numismatics, providing a contemporary review: "Without doubt classical subjects commend themselves as appropriate to the few of academic culture and taste, and yet the majority of people, and including, too, the majority of the cultivated, cannot but entertain the feeling that coins specially issued on the occasion celebrating one of the nation's greatest achievements should have borne types having a distinct reference to our national history and national spirit." The second account, written by Cornelius Vermeule in Numismatic Art in America in 1971, represented the modern opinion: "These coins were a tour de force, dated to be sure, but unusual enough in all respects to be worthy of what American numismatic art could achieve when creativity and Mint technique worked in unison."
Ex: Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 9/2006), lot 2944.(Registry values: P7)
From The Peh Family Collection.
Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# BYLX, PCGS# 7452, Greysheet# 10216)
Weight: 83.59 grams
Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper
View all of [The Peh Family Collection. ]
Auction Info
2025 October 2 - 5 GACC US Coins Signature® Auction #1386 (go to Auction Home page)
Proxy Bidding Ends
October
2nd
Thursday
12:50 pm CT
Auction Dates
October
2nd-5th
Thursday-Sunday
Proxy Bidding Time Remaining
12 Days
5h 9m 56s
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 15
Lot Tracking Activity: 48
Page Views: 261
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid (minimum $29) per lot.
This lot is in: 1 -
Signature® Premier Floor Session - PREMIER (Live Floor, Live Phone, Mail, Fax, Internet, and Heritage Live):
(Lots 3001-3238) - 1:00 PM Central Time, Thursday, October 2, 2025.
[Proxy bidding ends ten minutes prior to the session start time. Live Proxy bidding on Heritage Live now starts within 2 hours of when the auction opens for proxy bidding and continues through the live session.]
Exhibition Viewing Times, Title Page, Floor Session and License Information
Additional Location Info:
Heritage Auctions
2801 W. Airport Freeway
Dallas, TX 75261
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms | US & World Coin Grading Tutorial
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms | US & World Coin Grading Tutorial