With Original Presentation Case and Certifying Letters
Few complete sets of the coinage authorized and produced for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition were sold at the event, which was held in San Francisco over a period of months in 1915. Two hundred dollars was a large sum at the time, a price that few attendees could afford. Those who did purchase a set had two options for storing their new gold and silver coins: a leather presentation case or a copper frame. A descriptive card accompanied each set. Each of the first 100 coins struck included a letter signed by San Francisco Mint Superintendent T.W.H. Shanahan. The letters identified the coins as among the first struck, and were in San Francisco Mint, Office of the Superintendent mailing envelopes.
Intact sets with either of the original packaging options are rare; those with their original documentation are virtually unknown. Stack’s Bowers Galleries is very excited to offer such a set, numbered 28, in Rarities Night of our November 2024 Showcase Auction. The lot includes the coins, their case, descriptive card, as well as the original letters for each coin and their envelopes. Also included are letters from later in the 20th century relating to the lot’s sale, with their envelopes.
Stack’s, one of our predecessor firms, sold this set in July 1969; a letter written and signed by Benjamin Stack relating to that sale is included with this lot. Another letter, dated 1984, from California Numismatic Investments, Inc. President Richard J. Schwary asking the set’s owner for permission to photograph the items is included.
The coins are freshly certified by PCGS with all receiving grades that range from MS-63 to MS-65. Our cataloger’s assessment of the coins:
“Half Dollar. MS-63 (PCGS). A richly original example with glints of mauve, powder blue and antique gold to otherwise dominant olive-gray patina. Lustrous with a softly frosted texture that is smoother in hand than one might expect for the assigned grade.
“Gold Dollar. MS-65 (PCGS). This is a gorgeous Gem with virtually pristine surfaces and vivid orange-gold luster.
“Quarter Eagle. MS-65 (PCGS). Billowy mint luster mingles with warm honey-rose color on both sides of this lovely example.
“$50. Round. MS-63 (PCGS). Desirable Select Mint State quality for this rare and challenging issue. Both sides exhibit fulsome mint bloom with delightful golden-honey color and softly frosted luster. Fully struck. Otherwise a Gem, a few wispy handling marks in and around the central obverse are all that preclude an even higher grade.
“$50. Octagonal. MS-64+ (PCGS). Lovely honey-gold color with tinges of the lightest apricot iridescence. This is a lustrous example that is as attractive as many Octagonal Panama-Pacific $50s in MS-65 holders that we have handled over the years.”
“Set 28” appears on the PCGS label, alluding to the set’s number.
The packaging is also intact. The leather case, again per our cataloger, “is in Fine to Very Fine condition, complete and with a functional clasp. Minor scuffing to the lid and base are commensurate with moderate handling over the years, while the interior is a bit better preserved, yet with some fraying of the felt around the inserts for the coins. Most significant in terms of problems with the case is the near-separation of the lid from the base, at the hinge, which is cracked and torn nearly from end to end.”
The original letters and envelopes are similarly well-preserved and according to the cataloger are: “well preserved, paper crisp, minor discoloration or foxing to a couple of the letters and envelopes that are hardly detracting and, in any event, easily forgiven.” The descriptive card is also well-preserved.
The survival of such a set is nothing short of remarkable. Few were produced and sold, and a number were broken up in the century after their production. Different constituent parts of these sets, like the cases or frames, often realize strong prices when sold by themselves. Taken together, this is a remarkable, historic lot. It would be a crown jewel in any collection dedicated to classic commemoratives or Panama Pacific Exposition material.
