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1915-S Five-Piece Panama-Pacific Commemorative Set, MS62 to MS65 NGC.... (Total: 5 coins)
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Sold on Aug 26, 2025 for:
$150,000.00
Bid Source: Internet bidder
Description
1915-S Five-Piece Panama-Pacific Set
NGC-Certified MS62 to MS65
Four-Artist Collaboration
1915-S Five-Piece Panama-Pacific Commemorative Set, MS62 to MS65
NGC. Five commemorative coins were issued in 1915 from the San
Francisco Mint in conjunction with the Panama-Pacific International
Exposition held that year in the same city. The Expo was, chiefly,
a celebration of the Panama Canal's completion. The coin designs
were created to commemorate the uninterrupted waterway through the
isthmus, as well as overall prosperity and San Francisco's recovery
from the 1906 earthquake that burned down most of the city.The coins were sold individually and in sets, via Farran Zerbe on Expo grounds, and later via Zerbe's efforts to market the largest sets to wealthy bankers. Three-coin sets were offered that included the three lowest denominations, while a four-coin set could be purchased that added one of the two fifty dollar variants to the set. Both of these sets were sold in velvet-lined cases. Five-piece sets including both fifty dollar variants were sold in hammered copper frames, and a ten-piece sets were likewise distributed.
The present five-piece set is housed in consecutively numbered holders. Includes:
Half Dollar MS64. Brilliant, satiny mint luster adorns the central areas of this Choice example, with russet and blue-green toning around the outer borders. The strike is bold, and neither side exhibits bothersome abrasions.
The Pan-Pac half dollar was designed primarily by Chief Engraver Charles Barber, with assistance from Assistant Engraver George T. Morgan on the reverse design. Barber's long tenure as Chief Engraver began in 1880, following the death of his father William Barber, and he is responsible for many of the patterns and circulating coins cherished by modern collectors, especially the dime, quarter, and half dollar series named for him by collectors. Morgan served as Assistant Engraver under Barber and took over the Chief post in 1917 after Barber's death, serving then until his own death in 1925, after which he was replaced by John R. Sinnock. Barber and Morgan's design for the half dollar exhibits Columbia on the obverse with an eagle atop a shield on the reverse.
Gold Dollar MS65. Glistening sun-gold mint luster adorns sharp design elements and well-preserved surfaces on this lovely type coin -- the highest-graded piece in the set.
The Pan-Pac gold dollar was designed by Charles Keck, a well-established sculptor in 1915, who had studied under Augustus Saint-Gaudens as an assistant from 1893 to 1898. His architectural and monumental works are numerous, although he also designed two more coins: the 1927 Vermont commemorative half dollar, and the 1936 Lynchburg Sesquicentennial half dollar. His original models for the Pan-Pac gold dollar had depicted Poseidon with his trident, which was rejected by Treasury Secretary William G. McAdoo. A design featuring the explorer Balboa was considered, but the adopted design was one of two that Keck prepared depicting a canal worker. The reverse shows two dolphins circling, representing the joined Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Quarter Eagle MS64+. Lovely orange-gold luster adorns this high-end near-Gem. The strike is sharp, and eye appeal is excellent.
The Pan-Pac quarter eagle design was a joint effort of Charles Barber and George Morgan, in similar fashion to the half dollar, with Barber's hand responsible for the obverse and Morgan assisting on the reverse. Barber's obverse shows Columbia riding a hippocampus, while the reverse design shows the perched eagle. Only 6,749 examples of the quarter eagle were distributed.
Fifty Dollar Round MS62. The rarest of the Pan-Pac commemoratives in this set is a lovely coin for the MS62 grade, limited only by some light hairlines without obtrusive abrasions. Rich honey-gold color adorns each side, and the strike is bold.
Robert Ingersoll Aitken designed the fifty dollar gold pieces, both the round and octagonal variants. While he is most known today for his work on the west pediment of the U.S. Supreme Court building, his works are numerous. Numismatists, of course, are most familiar with Aitken's contributions to the classic commemorative series. In addition to the Pan-Pac fifties, he designed the 1921 Missouri Centennial half dollar and the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition half dollar. The Pan-Pac fifty design depicts Minerva on the obverse and her owl of wisdom on the reverse, perched atop a pine branch.
Fifty Dollar Octagonal MS63. Satiny, luminous mint luster adorns the Select surfaces of this iconic octagonal commemorative, with warm orange-gold color and only a few slight hairlines to limit the grade.
Aitken's design for the octagonal fifty is the same as for the round variant, save for the addition of dolphins in the angles of the periphery created by the octagonal shape. The dolphins, like on Keck's gold dollar, represent the new waterway through the Panama Canal. Congress authorized the production of two shapes for the Pan-Pac fifties, with the octagonal version intended to call back to the octagonal fifty dollar "slugs" produced by the U.S. Assay Office in San Francisco during the California Gold Rush.
Auction Info
2025 August 26 - 31 ANA US Coins Signature® Auction #1385 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
August, 2025
26th-31st
Tuesday-Sunday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 34
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 547
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid per lot.
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