Owner Comments:
MUCH RARER THAN HK-427 OBVERSE DATED 1915. APPEARS FINER THAN MS 63 BN EXCEPT FOR LARGE CARBON SPOT ON REVERSE.
AN NGC GRADED MS 62 BN EXAMPLE WAS SOLD BY HERITAGE AUCTIONS FOR $305.50.
PANAMA-CALIFORNIA EXPOSITION 1915-1916 SAN DIEGO, CA.
Official Medals designed by C. K. Berryman, Cartoonist for Washington Star; engraved by C. E. Barber; struck in Mint Exhibit on grounds. This was first and only official exposition medal with Uncle Sam as main design (1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition gold dollars were not official medals); also striking of this issue for both years of exposition represented first occasion "where medal of this character had been minted and dated for different years."
With North and Central America in the background, Uncle Sam is depicted on the obverse holding a shovel – the handle of the shovel overlaying Central America where the Panama Canal was dug. Designed by Washington Star Cartoonist C.K. Berryman, engraved by Charles E. Barber and struck in the U.S. Mint Exhibit at the Exposition.
Uncle Sam with shovel design but dated the second year of the Exposition, 1916. Designed by Washington Star Cartoonist C.K. Berryman, engraved by Charles E. Barber and struck in the U.S. Mint Exhibit at the Exposition.