The Money Museum
celebrates the centennial of an historic event and coin issue
John Steinbeck described San Francisco as “a golden handcuff
with the key thrown away,” and 100 years ago the City by the Bay captivated a
nation and world as host of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
The event celebrated the completion of the Panama Canal, and symbolized the
city’s rebirth from the 1906 earthquake.
From February to December, 19 million people visited the
city’s northern shore to view exhibits and grand architectural marvels like the
Tower of Jewels and the Palace of Fine Arts, which survives today. The event featured the
first transcontinental phone call (between Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Watson
and President Woodrow Wilson, just before the Expo opened), an assembly plant
that produced Ford cars, and the Liberty Bell – its last journey outside
Philadelphia.
The first United States commemorative coin, the Columbian
half dollar, was first produced in 1892 to raise money for the following year’s
World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The U.S. Mint released coins to
commemorate the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, the 1903 Louisiana Purchase
Exposition in St. Louis, and the 1904-05 Lewis and Clark Exposition in
Portland. For the San Francisco exposition, the San Francisco Mint created
60,000 silver half dollars, 25,000 $1 gold coins, 10,000 gold quarter eagles,
and 1,500 each of an octagonal and round $50 gold coin. The coins became the
first U.S. commemoratives produced at a branch mint, and thus feature a
mintmark (on the half dollar, left of the date on the obverse).
The Pan-Pac half dollar’s obverse was designed by Charles
Barber and features Columbia scattering flowers with a child behind holding a
cornucopia – a symbol of the American West’s abundance – and the Golden Gate
and setting sun with rays in the background. The coin’s reverse, designed by
George Morgan (and possibly Charles Barber; the two also designed the Pan-Pac
quarter eagle), features an eagle with wings raised, perched on the Union
Shield, with oak and olive branches around.
The half dollar is the first commemorative coin to feature “In
God We Trust” (above eagle), and the first to feature Liberty (as Columbia). The
half dollars were originally to be minted at the exposition’s U.S. Mint
exhibit, and the idea was to continually produce and melt the coins to give
visitors an educational experience while adhering to the authorized 200,000 net
mintage limit. However, diverting too many resources away from the official
Mint building caused concern, and the coins were all produced at “The Granite
Lady.”
Overall sales of the half-dollar and gold issues were
sluggish. Former ANA President Farran Zerbe served as manager of the event’s
Coin and Medal Department, and was in charge of the coins’ retail distribution
at the fair. Zerbe displayed his “Money of the World” exhibit near the Palace
of Fine Arts, and here he sold the majority of the coins here singly ($1 for a
half dollar) or in sets. Although Zerbe remained in San Francisco to sell the
coins through May of 1916, many thousands of the commemoratives were still
unsold and some more than 32,000 half dollars were melted, along with
substantial portions of the gold commemoratives.
The Panama-Pacific Exposition was a resounding success, and
is today remembered as being the most incredible celebration of art, sculpture
and design at any world’s fair before or since. Noted numismatic sculptors
James Earle Fraser, Adolph A. Weinman and Augustus Saint-Gaudens were among the
prominent artists to feature their work. Its numismatic legacy is also
substantial; in addition to the modern popularity of the Pan-Pac
commemoratives, a stunning official medal was struck at the Mint Exhibit at the
fair, and a wide range of so-called dollars, many produced by states before the
event to raise funds for their exhibits, continue to enthrall collectors today.
The theme for 2015 National
Coin Week, April 19-25, is “Building Tomorrows:
Inspiration and Innovation at World’s Fairs,” celebrating the history of
World’s Fairs and the 100th anniversary of the Panama-Pacific Exposition. The
ANA is holding two activities for its members and the grand prize for each
competition a 1915-S Panama Pacific Exposition commemorative half dollar,
donated by ANA Board members Jeff Garrett and Gary Adkins. The Edward C.
Rochette Money Museum will host a free open house on April 26 featuring a
display of U.S. and world commemoratives, and a variety of activities for young
and old. A wealth of educational content and fun activities about World’s Fairs
is available at NationalCoinWeek.com.