Owner Comments:
THERE ARE ONLY (1) MS 65 AND (1) MS 66 FINER IN THE NGC CENSUS AS OF 7/2023. FOUR PORTRAITS DOLLAR TYPE. THIS TYPE ALSO MADE IN ANTIQUED SILVER PLATED.
JEFF SHEVLIN SOLD ANOTHER NGC GRADED MS 64 EXAMPLE FOR $395.00.
ANOTHER NGC GRADED MS 64 EXAMPLE WAS SOLD BY STACKS BOWERS IN 2021 FOR $432.00.
Purpose: To celebrate opening of Panama Canal; to commemorate 400th anniversary of discovery of Pacific Ocean; to celebrate rebuilding of San Francisco following 1906 earthquake and fire.
Several states issued medals in advance of exposition as one means of raising funds for exhibition purposes; usually sold for $1. Except for Arkansas' Aluminum piece, all were Bronze; some silver-plated officially, others privately. Arkansas medal presented to "home folks and notable visitors"; Maryland's distributed on Maryland Day to officials and others.
Four busts adorn the obverse, Woodrow Wilson, president when the canal was completed in 1914; Theodore Roosevelt, president when the U.S. resumed building the canal; Colonel George W. Goetchals, U.S. Army engineer who directed the building of the canal; and Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French entrepreneur who initiated construction of the Panama Canal in 1880. The reverse features an aerial view of the exposition grounds. Microscopic W&H Co which stands for Whitehead & Hoag Co.