By Dan Duncan – Pinnacle-Rarities.com

Historically, 1936 was not a great year for most Americans. The United States was deep into the Great Depression. There was an unemployment rate of 16.9%, banks remained unstable, and the dust bowl continued to devastate the plains states. But with the U. S. economy floundering, a pass time known as “the hobby of kings” was flourishing. Coin collecting in the 1930’s was heated by a willing U.S. Mint, fueled by the interest in the classic commemorative series, and railroaded by a new breed of numismatist – the marketers.

These promoters took full advantage of the new urbanization of America. There was an increasing ease, functionality and reliability of the U.S. Postal Service combined with improved printing and advertising mediums. Uncertain times had opened the public’s eyes to alternative investments, and these early dealers took full advantage. Commissions were established and pushed for approval from Congress for the production of commemorative halves. The commission would purchase quantities from the U.S. Mint to resell at a profit, presumably using the proceeds to further the objectives of their respective commission. The scruples of many of these organizations came into question early on.

Mintages for particular issues were purposely lowered to add sale points to push prices for the particular issue. Some committees, honorable in their goals and intentions, gave in to dealers wishing to purchase the entire mintage up front for the privilege to handle distribution. These dealers fabricated stories of sell outs, and “resold” issues at higher aftermarket prices.

The story of the classic commemoratives begins in the late nineteenth century, but the series didn’t start picking up steam until the 1920’s. The early issues had shown collectors fabulous returns. And by the mid–30’s speculators and collectors alike were clambering for the new issues. The promoters and their commissions were willing to oblige. In Feb. 1936 Lee Hewitt, of Numismatic Scrapbook pointed out, “Commemoratives continue to advance in price along the whole front. This advance has been in progress for several months and at this writing is still going strong.”

The demand had grown to such proportions that famed numismatist B. Max Mehl produced a short book, The Commemorative Coins of the United States. In this he professes to the bourgeoning series’ place in the landscape of American numismatics stating, “The fact remains that the coins, or at least a majority of them, are of historical interest, and to a great extent represent and are of much numismatic and historical value. In fact of greater numismatic value than the majority of our regular issues.” Ironically, in the same tome, Mehl admits guilt to his part in the formulating schemes by which instant rarities were made by reducing the mintage figures. (more…)

One of Only Two Known

Heritage will be offering one of only two known 1915 P50C Panama-Pacific Half Dollars struck in Gold (Judd-1960 PR64 NGC) during the Boston ANA Signature Sale in August Lot # 13007.

The design is the same as the regular-issue 1915-S Panama-Pacific commemorative half, but lacking the normal S mintmark. Struck in gold with a reeded edge. Other S-less Panama-Pacific half dollar patterns are also known in silver and copper. These extremely rare patterns were clearly clandestine strikes, produced at the Philadelphia Mint before mintmark punches were applied to the working dies. There are two known examples of the gold half dollar, both struck on cut-down, struck Saint-Gaudens double eagle coins. Similar examples are known of the 1915 Panama-Pacific gold dollar and of the round and octagonal fifty dollar pieces, all lacking the S mintmark. The website USPatterns.com comments of the pieces, “These could be die trials but it seems that they were really struck for profit.”

Pollock comments in his United States Patterns and Related Issues:

“Farran Zerbe, who was involved in the coining and distribution of the Panama-Pacific commemoratives in California, has been quoted by Walter Breen as saying that specimens ‘may have been struck as trial pieces at the Philadelphia Mint by the instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury, who was a coin collector.’ The Secretary of the Treasury at the time was W.G. McAdoo of New York, a name familiar to students of U.S. paper money.”

Anthony Swiatek, in his Commemorative Coins of the United States (2001), writes much more unequivocally concerning the 1915 Pan-Pac half dollar, “Extremely rare trial pieces, made at the Philadelphia Mint, were struck without the S Mint mark. Two were created in gold, six in silver and four in copper for Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo–a coin collector!”

Further along, Pollock records his notes on the present specimen:

“Careful examination of the Farouk-Norweb coin [the present coin, listed as No. 2 in the Census below] reveals planchet file marks and traces of an undertype, indicating that the half dollar dies were impressed on a cut-down $20 gold coin, which had been filed to remove high-relief details. This piece is remarkably thick: 2.4 mm at the edge versus 2.1 mm for a regular-issue Panama-Pacific half dollar.

“The characteristics of the coin suggest that it was made clandestinely. Since the piece is overstruck instead of being made using a new planchet of normal thickness, it can be inferred that there was a desire on the part of the manufacturer that no mention of the piece be made in the bullion account books, and thus it may have been produced secretly at the Mint in the same manner as the 1913 Liberty nickel or the Class III 1804 dollar. The only other known example of the variety [listed as No. 1 below] is reportedly also struck over a cut-down $20 gold piece.” (more…)

Content Partner: Pinnacle-Rarities

We’ve entered the last year of the popular modern commemorative quarter program. For better or worse, all fifty states have created designs and the final mintages will hit the nation’s cash registers during the remainder of the year. While I find these final five designs attractive, they (like their modern predecessors) lack the historical depth and symbolisms many of their classic commemorative cousins encompassed. And, as I look over the 2008 proof set that just crossed my desk, my mind goes back to the original commemorative quarter.

The 1893 Isabella Quarter, was created for the Columbian Exposition. $10,000 of the funds intended for the Board of Lady Mangers at the Expo was delivered in the form of forty thousand of these commemorative quarters. The board had been formed at the urging of woman’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony, who felt both genders should be represented in the managerial makeup of this great national project the expo had become. The inclusion of a coin to commemorate female contributions to industry seems almost trifling by today’s standards. But the Woman’s Suffrage movement was full steam ahead at the time. In fact, women didn’t legally win the right to vote until Colorado adapted an amendment to allow them to do so, during this year, 1893. A cause Anthony had championed over the previous two and a half decades. What seems like just a novel idea now, was a veritable coup at the time. The quarter served not only to raise money for the cause, but as a sort of name recognition ad for the woman’s rights movement. And it fueled the growing fires of suffrage. The coins were to be sold at the fair for $1 each. A premium over face that was obscene to some. For this and a variety of other reasons, thousands went unsold during the fair. The balance was slowly sold off to dealers during the coming decade.

The dies were prepared by Charles Barber, presumably from sketches done by Kenyon Cox. Later research has brought this into question. But regardless of where the original ideas came from, the coin is wrought with symbolism – especially the reverse. The use of a monarch on the obverse is somewhat controversial, but considering what event the coin was supposed to commemorate, it was a natural choice. Queen Isabella was the backing Christopher Columbus needed to fund his adventure. The reverse is simply described in most numismatic literature as a kneeling woman holding a distaff, the spool used to hold unspun cotton. This image is now reported to represent “woman in industry.” This may be the case but, Barber’s image would have meant a lot more to the people in his time. (more…)