2017-01-20 Fri

1915-S Panama-Pacific International Exposition commemorative gold $50 coin was sold for almost $200,000 at the 2017 FUN convention. The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held in San Francisco from 20th February to 4th December 1915 to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal. It also acted as a public display of the city’s comeback after the fateful 1906 earthquake. The buildings built for the San Francisco exposition were made of temporary materials but the event is remembered on classic commemorative coins.

The two types of Panama-Pacific International Exposition gold $50 “slugs” were designed by Robert I. Aitken and minted in 1915 at the San Francisco Mint. One was round and the other was octagonal. 645 octagonal coins were released along with 483 round ones. The cost of the coins in 1915 was $100. 1,500 of each type were struck but many were melted due to low demand. Today, the coin has a lot of demand among collectors and numismatists.