Commems Collection Classic: 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition Gold Dollar - Labor

If you refer to any volume on United States commemorative coins that includes the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition coinage, you will find the obverse design of the program's Gold Dollar described as being representative of a laborer who worked on building the Panama Canal. Such a description can be found in the early references by Howland Wood (The Commemorative Coinage of the United States (1922)) and David Bullowa (The Commemorative Coinage of the United States - 1892-1938) as well as in more modern references such as Q. David Bowers' Commemorative Coins of the United States - A Complete Encyclopedia.

But other descriptions can also be found.

In the June 10, 1915 edition of the Newark Evening Star, in an article titled "Exposition Gold Dollar to Bear Laborer's Face," it was stated that "The coin will have double significance, for it will commemorate labor's share in the building of the nation and will recognize the efforts of the workmen who built the Panama canal." This is the first time I've read about the portrait being representative of the more macro "building of the nation (US)." As the 110+ year-old story is uncredited, however, I have been unable to track down the source of the description. A staffer covering the Exposition? The Exposition Company's promotion department? Farran Zerbe, the official promoter/distributor of the Exposition's coins? Charles Keck, the artist responsible for the design?

In any case, it is not an interpretation that gained widespread acceptance - based on the coin's descriptions in the reference volumes published in the years that followed. Such wider representation, however, is plausible as labor's role in the growth and development of the United States certainly extended beyond the construction of the Panama Canal. In fact, it can be argued that the growth and development of the United States in the late 1800s and first decade of the 1900s put the US in a position to take on the tremendous task of building the canal.

To paraphrase Shrek, "The stories behind coin designs are like onions...they have layers." You might just be surprised once you begin peeling!

1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition Gold Dollar



For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including other stories of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition coins, see: Commems Collection.