1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific 50 Dollar Round MS65 PCGS....

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Sold on Feb 24, 2022 for:

$150,000.00 Bid Source: Internet bidder

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1915-S Panama-Pacific Fifty Dollar, MS65
Scarcer Round Type, Only 483 Coins Sold

1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific 50 Dollar Round MS65 PCGS. San Francisco-born sculptor Robert Aitken modeled his design for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition fifty dollar commemoratives after the Great Seal of California, which Q. David Bowers has called "one of the most elegant ever produced for any state of the Union." The seal was designed by U.S. Army Major Robert S. Garnett and engraved by Albrecht Kuner. Kuner, who also engraved the dies for many of the early private Gold Rush coiners, was paid $600 for his work. The Roman goddess Minerva figures most prominently on the seal, along with a grizzly bear, a sheaf of wheat, a miner, etc.

In Renaissance of American Coinage, 1909-1915, Roger Burdette publishes a January 23, 1915 letter from Aitken to Acting Mint Director Frederick P. Dewey:

"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."

Indeed, the portrait of Minerva does "make a beautiful pattern" on this round 1915-S Panama-Pacific fifty dollar gold piece, one of just 483 distributed from a production of 1,500 coins. Her owl, which dominates the central reverse, is equally impressive. This Gem is well-preserved with typically satiny orange-gold surfaces and a full strike. The fields are clean, and the only mentionable flaw is a slender horizontal pinscratch across the Minerva's cheek and neck.(Registry values: N10218)

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

Weight: 83.59 grams

Metal: Gold

View Certification Details from PCGS