Commems Collection Classic: 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition - Historical Tidbits / $1

Time for a few notes about the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition ("Pan-Pac") Gold Dollar...


Tidbit #1

The Pan-Pac Gold Dollar was the top seller among the Exposition's gold commemorative coins. It had an authorized mintage of 25,000 (all of which were struck at the San Francisco Branch Mint) and sold/distributed ~15,000 pieces (~60%); the ~10,000 unsold coins were returned to the Mint to be melted.

The coin was sold for $2.00 each.


Tidbit #2

The obverse of the 1915 Pan-Pac Gold Dollar presents an unnamed, left-facing Panama Canal worker wearing a short-brimmed cap (one of many different styles of hat worn by canal laborers); the design was meant to be representative of a typical canal worker.

The reverse design of the coin features a pair of dolphins. The dolphins are meant to symbolize the connection that was created between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans when the Panama Canal was completed - two oceans, two dolphins. The coin includes the "S" mint mark within the reverse design.

Charles Keck was the coin's designer. His designs for the coin are my favorites among the US classic-era commemorative Gold Dollars - they strike me as the most 'artistic'.


Tidbit #3

Contemporary notices regarding the 1915 Pan-Pac Gold Dollar proclaimed it to be the first coin to ever depict the "face of a laborer." I'm not familiar with every coin ever issued, but this claim has always seemed a bit of hyperbole to me.

For example, I've read about ancient coins that depict laborers. I don't collect these pieces, so I don't have an example in my collection to image. Can anyone provide a specific example?

The United States ("US") commemorative coin series depicts a symbolic laborer on the 1893 Queen Isabella Quarter Dollar for the World's Columbian Exposition. The coin presents an allegorical representation of "Women's Industry". The Isabella coin predates the Pan-Pac Gold Dollar by more than 20 years! (I wrote about the Isabella design here: 1893 Isabella Quarter - A Closer Look At Its Design.)


Tidbit #4

An editorial in the Fall River Herald (Fall River, Massachusetts) published in June 1915 voiced the opinion that the gold dollar was an "Inadequate Memorial" for Labor. It posited that "the recognition should be adequate and should be as practical as has been the part of the nation's development or the development of any undertaking that labor represents."

The editorial argued that the gold dollar's size rendered it inconvenient for use and would match the old gold dollars (struck 1849-1889) as being "little short of being a nuisance" rather than practical.

The editorial also objected to the mintage limit of 25,000 coins, arguing that, at such a limited level, the coins would not enter general circulation and thus wouldn't be a "constant reminder" of their intended objective.

As part of its summary, the editorial stated: "The cause of labor would have little reason to feel honored by such a dilettante [superficial] issue of a gold coin of the realm."

I don't think the author (or editor) understood the difference between commemorative coins and those struck for general circulation. If he/she did, the opinions the editorial expressed might have been different (and more positive).

For a bit more on the coin's design, see:

- 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition Gold Dollar - Labor


Tidbit #5

The 1916 Annual Report of the Director of the Mint states that the average number of coins struck per die for the Pan-Pac Gold Dollar was 2,421 - the same figure was listed for the Obverse and Reverse dies. This suggests 10 or 11 pairs of dies were used to strike the coin's mintage of 25,000 (plus 34 Assay coins)

Note: The math doesn't work out exactly for either 10 or 11 die pairs.

The fact that the number of coins struck is the same for both dies suggests that the dies might have been replaced in pairs vs. the Obverse or Reverse die being swapped out individually. It also suggests that the dies were changed frequently to maintain good quality strikes for the souvenir pieces.


1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition Gold Dollar



For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more Tidbit stories, see: Commems Collection.