Panama–Pacific commemorative coins
The five Panama–Pacific commemorative coins were produced in connection with the 1915
In January 1915, Congress passed legislation for a silver
The coins were vended at the Exposition by prominent numismatist Farran Zerbe. They did not sell well, and many of each denomination were returned for melting. Only a few hundred of each of the $50 pieces were distributed, making them the lowest-mintage commemorative coins. They catalog for up to $200,000, depending on condition.
Background
Private gold pieces, sometimes dubbed "pioneer gold", were struck several times during the 19th century from locally produced bullion in areas where federal coins were scarce. These unofficial coins came from sites ranging from Georgia to Oregon. Many, ranging in denomination from 25 cents to 50 dollars, are relics of the
All of these $50 pieces, public or private, are very rare and valuable today: One of Humbert's octagonal pieces, dated 1851 and with a lettered edge, sold at auction in 2010 for $546,250.[2] The only $50 piece produced by the United States Bureau of the Mint prior to 1915 was the 1877 pattern half union, produced experimentally at the Philadelphia Mint, though it was not approved as a circulating coin.[3]
In 1904, San Francisco merchant Rueben Hale proposed an exposition in his home city for 1915, both to commemorate the opening of the Panama Canal and to mark the 400th anniversary of Vasco Núñez de Balboa becoming the first European known to view the Pacific Ocean from the Americas: in phrasing then current, he discovered the Pacific. Although the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire caused a momentary setback to these plans, it actually sparked additional fundraising. Many of the wealthiest in California gave financial support, the state matched private donations dollar for dollar, and in 1911, President William Howard Taft selected San Francisco over its competitor, New Orleans, to host the fair.[4]
The
Commemorative coins were not then sold to the public by the Mint, as they subsequently have been. Instead, a commemorative's authorizing legislation would designate a group or organization to purchase the coins from the Mint at face value, and sell them to the public as a fundraiser.[9] Among those who had pushed for commemorative legislation in the past, and had been involved in the sale of the resulting coins, was Farran Zerbe, a collector and numismatic promoter who had by 1914 served as president of the American Numismatic Association. Zerbe was a controversial figure—some felt the coins with which he had been involved had been sold at inflated prices—but he helped promote the hobby with his exhibit, "Money of the World", which later became part of the Chase Manhattan Money Museum.[10][11]
Legislation
Several proposals for commemorative coins had been introduced by mid-1914, though none had been issued by the Mint since 1905. One, sponsored by New York Senator Elihu Root, called for a commemorative quarter dollar marking a century of peace, as well as the August 1914 opening of the Panama Canal.[12] Two bills were introduced calling for coins to commemorate and benefit the Panama–Pacific Exposition; H.R. 16902 was introduced by California Congressman Julius Kahn on June 3, 1914.[13] Senate bill (S.) 6309 was introduced in that body by New Jersey Senator James E. Martine on July 6. This bill called for two $50 pieces (one round, one octagonal), a quarter eagle or $2.50 in gold, a commemorative gold dollar, and a half dollar.[14] The octagonal pieces were intended to recall the unofficial $50 coins struck during the Gold Rush[15]
Martine's bill passed the Senate on August 3, having been approved by the Committee on Industrial Expositions, to which it had been referred. The only objection was procedural, by Utah's
Preparation
Once Kahn's bill was introduced in the House,
Roberts wrote to several of the sculptors, and found Aitken interested in creating the $50 pieces. The Mint Director's tentative negotiations with Aitken for the large gold coins and with Buffalo nickel designer James Earl Fraser for the award medal ended when Roberts resigned in November to take a banking job; McAdoo appointed Dr. Frederic Dewey as Acting Director of the Mint. Dewey and McAdoo did little regarding the Panama–Pacific coins until Congress began to pass the authorizing legislation in early January 1915. Once it had passed both houses, and was awaiting Wilson's signature, Dewey arranged for a meeting in New York with Aitken, Keck, Longman, and Manship. The authorizing act required the Mint to begin delivering coins by the opening date of the fair, February 20, 1915, and although this proved impractical, the Mint still acted quickly. McAdoo approved the choices of Aitken for the $50 pieces, Longman for the quarter eagle, Keck for the dollar, and Manship for the half dollar on January 21. All four artists were already at work, and Aitken responded to the notification of his hiring by submitting designs, which were similar to the actual coins.[22]
By January 29, all four artists had submitted bronze casts of their proposals. Dewey forwarded them to McAdoo, who solicited advice from the
All four outside artists protested. Manship's objections were to no avail; McAdoo selected the design submitted by Barber for the half dollar. Longman asked for an explanation, submitted new designs, and came to Washington to discuss the matter. According to a letter several months later from Dewey, she fell ill there and was unable to participate further; numismatic historian Roger Burdette finds the explanation odd and suggests that there may have been some other reason. Barber was selected to design the quarter eagle. Both Atiken and Keck objected to the Commission of Fine Arts and to McAdoo; Keck also submitted additional designs. Both men met with McAdoo, Malburn and Dewey in Washington, and agreed to changes to their proposed designs. With that done, the $50 and $1 pieces were approved on March 6, 1915. The half dollar was approved two days later. Barber submitted his designs for the quarter eagle on March 16. They met an enthusiastic reception at the Treasury Department, and were approved.[24]
Designs
Barber's half dollar and quarter eagle
To what extent Mint Assistant Engraver (later Chief Engraver)
The obverse of the half dollar depicts
Art historian
Barber's quarter eagle (the first of that denomination issued as a commemorative) depicts,
The obverse of the quarter eagle, Vermeule opined, derived from coins of ancient Greece depicting a "
Dollar and $50 pieces
Charles Keck's obverse for the dollar was one of the alternative designs submitted to McAdoo, depicting the unadorned, capped head of a Panama Canal construction worker[41]—Keck's original concept had featured Poseidon, god of the sea in Greek mythology. The worker, who represents the labor necessary to build the canal, is sometimes mistaken for a baseball player. Keck's reverse contains the words "Panama–Pacific Exposition", "San Francisco", the denomination of the coin, and two dolphins, symbolizing the joining of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by the canal.[42] The mint mark is beneath the letters D and O in "Dollar".[37]
Vermeule called Keck's dollar "a novel, daring use of the limited area afforded by such a small, thin coin. Compared with the earlier gold dollars, the coin is a work of art."[40] Numismatist Arlie Slabaugh, in his volume on commemoratives, noted that the Panama–Pacific dollar "presents a bold American design, completely different from the classical styles used on the other denominations".[43]
Aitken explained his design for the $50 pieces:
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 [motif] of the obverse, the head of the virgin goddess
seal of the State of California ... 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. Upon the reverse I use the owl, the bird sacred to Minerva, also the symbol of wisdom ... With these simple symbols, all full of beauty in themselves, I feel that I have expressed the larger meaning of the exposition, its appeal to the intellect.[44]
The goddess wears a crested helmet, as her Greek equivalent,
Kevin Flynn, in his book on commemorative coins, described the branch on which the owl perches as that of a
The design for the $50 received contemporary criticism; some suggested that the presence of the dolphins on the octagonal coin implied that the canal had been constructed for
Production and distribution
Once the designs were approved, the artists prepared bronze casts to be sent to the Medallic Art Company in New York. There, hubs would be made that the Mint could use to produce coinage dies, as the company could do it faster than could the Mint. The Panama–Pacific issues are the first American coins known to have been produced from hubs provided by a private company—the Medallic Art Company prepared hubs for the 1913 Buffalo nickel, but it is uncertain if they were used. The Panama–Pacific hubs were sent to the Philadelphia Mint, where the Engraving Department, headed by Barber, would produce the necessary dies. Although the authorizing statute required that the coins be struck in San Francisco, all coinage dies at that time were produced by Barber and his assistants in Philadelphia.[53]
By April, Robert W. Woolley had been commissioned as Director of the Mint, and he approved samples of the gold dollar, the first to have work completed, on April 22. He then traveled to San Francisco, and was there when the dies for the dollar arrived on the 27th. When the San Francisco Mint's coiner examined them, they proved to be lacking the mint mark "S", customary on coins produced there. Woolley was not sure if this was intentional, and wired to Philadelphia Mint Superintendent Adam M. Joyce on the 29th. Upon learning that it was intentional—Joyce reasoned that as the entire mintage of this, the first commemorative issue to be struck outside Philadelphia, would be produced at San Francisco, there was no need to use a mint mark—Woolley ordered that the dies at San Francisco and in transit be returned to Philadelphia, and new ones produced with the mint mark. Woolley believed that people would assume the coins were struck at Philadelphia, which did not then use a mint mark. Burdette notes that the San Francisco Mint was a source of local pride and the omission of the mint mark would likely have led to widespread protest, and possibly to two varieties of each of the new coins: with mint mark, and without. New dollar dies were sent from Philadelphia on May 3, and for the half dollar the following day. Dies for the $50 followed on May 14, and for the quarter eagle on May 27.[54]
Containing 2.4286 troy ounces (2.6645 oz; 75.54 g) of gold and measuring 44.9 millimetres (1.77 in) across for the octagonal) and 43 millimetres (1.7 in) in diameter for the round,[55] the $50 pieces were the largest and heaviest U.S. coins issued[56] until surpassed in 2010 by the America the Beautiful silver bullion coins.[57][58] The octagonal $50 piece is the only U.S. coin that is not round.[59] The facilities at the San Francisco Mint were inadequate to strike such large coins as the $50 pieces, and a hydraulic medal press was shipped from Philadelphia.[47] This press was ceremoniously operated at that mint on June 15, 1915 for the initial striking of $50 octagonal pieces; the first by San Francisco Mint Superintendent T. W. H. Shanahan, for presentation to the exposition's president, Charles C. Moore. The next nine were struck by other dignitaries, including Congressman Kahn. Anyone else present with the price of $100 per coin was then allowed to strike their own piece, and at least three people, including Dewey's wife and the local postmaster, did so.[60]
The Panama–Pacific Exposition Company hired Farran Zerbe to sell the new coins at the fair. Despite the provisions of the law mandating a delivery of coins before the fair's opening, the only government products Zerbe initially had to vend at his "Money of the World" exhibit were a souvenir medal, designed by Aitken and struck by a press operating at the Mint's exhibit, and prints produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, also on-site. Sales of the medal were slow, and Zerbe did not have coins to sell until soon after May 8, 1915, when the half dollar and dollar dies were received. Zerbe found the coins hard to sell; many potential purchasers, faced with a plethora of medals, reproductions of Gold Rush-era pioneer gold coins, and other wares from a variety of vendors, did not believe his coins were official government products. Treasury officials agreed to allow him space for a salesperson at the Mint's exhibit, and the two lower denominations were sold there, with orders taken for the $50 pieces. Soon, though, Zerbe stopped selling the gold dollar there, and the rest of the fair's run was marked by conflict between him and Treasury representatives. The full legal allocation for each denomination had been struck, but though Zerbe continued selling coins by mail after the fair closed on December 4, 1915, sales dropped through 1916.[61] Zerbe continued to sell coins on behalf of the exposition until at least November 1916, and at some point, he sold an unknown quantity to himself to supply the future needs of his coin business. The remainder were melted by the Treasury.[62]
The Mint struck 1,500 of each of the two $50 pieces, plus nine extra of the octagonal and ten of the round, to be sent to Philadelphia to await the 1916 meeting of the annual Assay Commission, when they would be available for inspection and testing.[a] Zerbe had arranged for special display boxes and cases. A set of four denominations (with the purchaser's choice of round or octagonal for the $50) cost $100; a set of five cost $200. Copper display frames with two of each coin were said by Slabaugh to have cost $400,[48] but Swiatek, in his 2011 book on commemoratives, indicates that these sets may actually have been given to dignitaries, as no sales receipts or correspondence relating to them are known. A set of the three smaller denominations sold for $7,[59] the half dollar at $1, the gold dollar at $2 or $2.25 (prices may have varied),[63] and the quarter eagle at $4 each.[64]
Collecting and mintages
More of the octagonal $50 pieces were sold than of the round, as the former proved more popular because of the association with the Gold Rush,[65] and because people liked the dolphins.[59] As half of the 3,000 authorized mintage for the $50 pieces were of each variety, this meant more of the round ones would be melted, leaving the round $50 with the lowest distribution of any U.S. commemorative coin, about 483—the runner up being the octagonal with about 645, though sources vary on the exact numbers distributed.[66][67] The half dollar and dollar are known struck in different metals; pieces believed to have been struck to create rarities.[68]
The $50 pieces stood as the highest denomination U.S. coins for many years. In 1986, the Mint began producing the American Gold Eagle, also with face value $50. The record was surpassed with the American Platinum Eagle with a face value of $100, in 1997.[69]
Denomination | Mintage | Assay coins | Melted | Net distribution[66] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Half dollar | 60,000 | 0–30[b] | 32,866 | 27,134 |
Gold dollar | 25,000 | 34 | 10,000 | 15,000 |
Quarter eagle | 10,000 | 17 | 3,251 | 6,749 |
$50 octagonal | 1,500 | 9 | 855 | 645 |
$50 round | 1,500 | 10 | 1,017 | 483 |
Notes
- ^ It was a privilege of members of the Assay Commission, appointed annually from the public and government officials, to purchase at face value coins submitted for testing but not used, and members of the 1916 commission sought to purchase the Panama–Pacific pieces. Woolley refused, and the coins were melted. See Burdette, p. 293.
- ^ Burdette reports no half dollars set aside for assay. See Burdette, p. 392. Swiatek reports 30 struck for assay. See Swiatek, p. 88. Swiatek's figure agrees with that in the report of the 1916 Assay Commission. See Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances, 1916, p. 399.
References
- ^ Yeoman, pp. 1261–1262.
- ^ Yeoman, pp. 1261–1271.
- ^ Burdette, p. 315.
- ^ Burdette, pp. 261–262.
- ^ Slabaugh, pp. 32–33.
- ^ Flynn, p. 220.
- ^ Burdette, p. 266.
- ^ Herrington, Jason (December 3, 2014). "San Francisco Proudly Re-Opens Doors to the Palace of Fine Arts". California Historical Society. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ^ Slabaugh, pp. 3–5.
- ^ Flynn, p. 217.
- ^ Bowers, pp. 603–604.
- ^ a b Swiatek & Breen, p. 190.
- ^ Burdette, p. 269.
- ^ "63 S. 6039 Introduced in Senate". United States Senate. July 6, 1914.(subscription required)
- ^ Swiatek, pp. 86, 89.
- ^ 1914 Congressional Record, Vol. 60, Page 13113–13114 (August 3, 1914)
- ^ a b "Union Calendar No. 324 S. 6039". United States House of Representatives. September 1, 1914.(subscription required)
- ^ 1915 Congressional Record, Vol. 61, Page 934 (January 4, 1915)
- ^ 1915 Congressional Record, Vol. 61, Page 1012–1013 (January 6, 1915)
- ^ 38 Stat. 793
- ^ Taxay, pp. 24–26.
- ^ Burdette, pp. 270–274.
- ^ Burdette, pp. 275–281.
- ^ Burdette, pp. 281–288.
- ^ a b Burdette, p. 312.
- ^ Bowers, pp. 127, 621–622.
- ^ a b Swiatek & Breen, p. 189.
- ^ La Marre, p. 64.
- ^ a b c Burdette, p. 311.
- ^ Flynn, p. 147.
- ^ Flynn, p. 148.
- ^ a b Vermeule, p. 137.
- ^ a b Swiatek & Breen, pp. 189–190.
- ^ US Department of the Treasury.
- ^ La Marre, p. 63.
- ^ Flynn, pp. 219–220.
- ^ a b Swiatek, p. 85.
- ^ a b Swiatek & Breen, p. 197.
- ^ a b Vermeule, p. 136.
- ^ a b Vermeule, p. 135.
- ^ Taxay, p. 31.
- ^ Flynn, pp. 216–218.
- ^ Slabaugh, p. 29.
- ^ Burdette, p. 275.
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, pp. 201–202.
- ^ Burdette, p. 276.
- ^ a b Flynn, p. 226.
- ^ a b Slabaugh, p. 30.
- ^ Bowers, p. 626.
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, p. 202.
- ^ Jones, pp. 127–128.
- ^ Garrett & Guth, p. 220.
- ^ Burdette, pp. 289–290.
- ^ Burdette, pp. 290–292.
- ^ Yeoman, p. 1054.
- ^ Garrett & Guth, p. 520.
- ^ "America the Beautiful Quarters". United States Mint. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ^ "Press Purchased for New Silver Coins". Numismatic News. February 26, 2010. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ^ a b c Swiatek, p. 89.
- ^ Burdette, pp. 306–308.
- ^ Burdette, pp. 300–310.
- ^ Bowers, p. 629.
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, pp. 191–195.
- ^ Bowers, p. 622.
- ^ Bowers, p. 628.
- ^ a b Swiatek, p. 83.
- ^ Burdette, p. 293.
- ^ "J1967/P2034". uspatterns.com. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
- ^ Yeoman, pp. 1226, 1239.
- ^ Yeoman, pp. 1052–1055.
Sources
- ISBN 9780943161358.
- Burdette, Roger W. (2007). Renaissance of American Coinage, 1909–1915. Great Falls, VA: Seneca Mill Press. ISBN 978-0-9768986-2-7.
- Flynn, Kevin (2008). The Authoritative Reference on Commemorative Coins 1892–1954. Roswell, GA: Kyle Vick. OCLC 711779330.
- Garrett, Jeff; Guth, Ron (2008). Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins, 1795–1933 (second ed.). Atlanta, GA: Whitman Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7948-2254-5.
- ISBN 0-89722-238-5.
- La Marre, Tom (November 1987). "The Canal Commemoratives". COINage. Encino, CA: Behn-Miller Publishers, Inc.: 62–64, 68.
- Slabaugh, Arlie R. (1975). United States Commemorative Coinage (second ed.). Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing. ISBN 978-0-307-09377-6.
- Swiatek, Anthony (2012). Encyclopedia of the Commemorative Coins of the United States. Chicago: KWS Publishers. ISBN 978-0-9817736-7-4.
- Swiatek, Anthony; ISBN 978-0-668-04765-4.
- ISBN 978-0-668-01536-3.
- "History of 'In God We Trust'". United States Department of the Treasury. March 8, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-674-62840-3.
- Yeoman, R.S. (2018). A Guide Book of United States Coins 2014 (Mega Red 4th ed.). Atlanta, GA: Whitman Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-0-7948-4580-3.