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If you think that finding a nice Panama - Pacific half dollar is hard now ...
BillJones
Posts: 34,758 ✭✭✭✭✭
...You should be thankful that the original plans for striking the coin were not put into motion.
When Congress authorized the coinage of the Panama - Pacific half dollar the law stated that at the discretion of the secretary of the treasury the half dollars should be "coined or finished and issued from the machinery to be installed as a part of the exhibit at the United States Mint at said Exposition, and for the purpose of maintaining the exhibit as an educational working exhibit at all times the coin so minted may be remelted and reminted." (David Bowers Encyclopedia - Commemorative Coins of the United States, page 125) Fortunately the secretary of the treasury scrapped that idea and had the Panama - Pacific medals made on the floor of the Exposition instead.
The deal was that 200,000 Panama - Pacific half dollars were authorized. Any coins minted in excess of that number would be melted and the metal would be used to make more coins. The melting would come by destroying the earlier minted pieces. In other words there was a good chance that many "first strike," early die state pieces would have been melted leaving the later die states from used or "tired" dies.
Anyone who has tried to find a nice Panama - Pacific half dollar can tell you that the coins were made with a satin, not brilliant finish, and that many pieces are toned, dull and unattractive. If this "educational exhibit" been accepted many of the better half dollars would have gone to the melting pot, and we probably would been left with more of the dull examples with poor eye appeal. So we should thank the secretary of the treasury in 1915, William Gibbs McAdoo, who was also the president's son-in-law. So here's to you, William, although we could not have toasted him with an adult beverage because Mr. McAdoo was a teetotaler and a strong advocate of Prohibition.
Here is a nice MS-64 Pan-Pac half dollar:
And here is an example of the Pan-Pac medal which listed as a So-Called Dollar:
When Congress authorized the coinage of the Panama - Pacific half dollar the law stated that at the discretion of the secretary of the treasury the half dollars should be "coined or finished and issued from the machinery to be installed as a part of the exhibit at the United States Mint at said Exposition, and for the purpose of maintaining the exhibit as an educational working exhibit at all times the coin so minted may be remelted and reminted." (David Bowers Encyclopedia - Commemorative Coins of the United States, page 125) Fortunately the secretary of the treasury scrapped that idea and had the Panama - Pacific medals made on the floor of the Exposition instead.
The deal was that 200,000 Panama - Pacific half dollars were authorized. Any coins minted in excess of that number would be melted and the metal would be used to make more coins. The melting would come by destroying the earlier minted pieces. In other words there was a good chance that many "first strike," early die state pieces would have been melted leaving the later die states from used or "tired" dies.
Anyone who has tried to find a nice Panama - Pacific half dollar can tell you that the coins were made with a satin, not brilliant finish, and that many pieces are toned, dull and unattractive. If this "educational exhibit" been accepted many of the better half dollars would have gone to the melting pot, and we probably would been left with more of the dull examples with poor eye appeal. So we should thank the secretary of the treasury in 1915, William Gibbs McAdoo, who was also the president's son-in-law. So here's to you, William, although we could not have toasted him with an adult beverage because Mr. McAdoo was a teetotaler and a strong advocate of Prohibition.
Here is a nice MS-64 Pan-Pac half dollar:
And here is an example of the Pan-Pac medal which listed as a So-Called Dollar:
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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I just got one of the medals in silver recently and it's in a PCGS holder and even has a CoinFacts image:
HK-399 Silver Pan-Pac Medal PCGS XF40
Thought it looked really nice for an XF40 and I knew the silver medals had a much lower mintage than the bronze examples. Finding the CoinFacts image was a nice bonus
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