1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific 50 Dollar Octagonal

1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific 50 Dollar Octagonal MS64 NGC. Although most collectors concur that the Ultra High Relief double eagle of Augustus Saint-Gaudens is America's most beautiful coin, one wonders if those collectors really mean "America's most beautiful regular-issue coin." Even among several spectacularly beautiful commemorative coin designs from the "classic" era of 1892-1954 (and many other designs ranging from humdrum to hideous), the 1915-S Panama-Pacific fifty dollar gold pieces, both the round and octagonal, occupy an honored place in the pantheon of favorites.
A 1914 letter to Mint Director George Roberts from the Commission on Fine Arts, recommending possible artists for consideration to design some of the contemplated coins and medals for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, reads like a veritable Who's Who of American sculptors of the time:
--A.A. Weinman, a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French, creator of dozens of massive sculptures in and around New York, and future designer of the "Mercury" dime and Walking Liberty half dollar;
--John Gelert, Chicago sculptor of the controversial 1889 Haymarket Riot monument and many other pieces in that city;
--Robert I. Aitken, eventually chosen designer for the fifty dollar gold pieces, the creator of many other sculptures in Missouri, at West Point, and the Temple of Music and Dewey Monument in San Francisco, as well as his most famous work, the West Pediment, "Equal Justice Under Law," of the U.S. Supreme Court Building;
--Miss Evelyn B. Longman, 1918 winner of a National Academy of Design prize for her sculpture "The Future";
--Paul H. Manship, prolific sculptor of subjects from classical mythology and designer of Society of Medallists Issue #2, "Dionysus"; and
--Charles Keck, assistant to Saint-Gaudens from 1893 to 1898, eventual designer of the Pan-Pac gold dollar, known for his monuments ("Stonewall Jackson," Charlottesville, Virginia) and architectural sculpture (Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York).
For his memorable design, Robert I. Aitken drew upon classical mythology--the owl, depicted on the reverse on a pine branch, was the favorite of Athena (Minerva), goddess of wisdom who graces the obverse. The dolphins--important in the ancient Minoan culture, as seen in the labyrinthine ruins at Knossos, Crete--on the obverse of the octagonal piece are invariably seen as helpers of mankind. Yet Aitken's design is no fawning throwback, paying tribute to ancient themes with a thoroughly American vocabulary.
The tradeoff of the fifty dollar octagonal pieces is that, by fitting the dolphins into the outer corners, the interior design elements are actually a tad smaller than on the round fifty dollar pieces. Nonetheless, both designs are startlingly original and compelling examples of the American numismatic arts at their finest.
The surfaces on this piece are bright and satiny with no flaws apparent to the unaided eye. The coin, in fact, appears even finer than the MS64 grade. Swirling die polish lines are seen in the fields, which gives the piece even more brightness and vibrancy. A magnificent octagonal Pan-Pac fifty.
From The Dan McClure Collection.

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