Panama: 1947 silver Balboa PCGS MS64. Cert. #43640625. Numista-18304, Krause-Mishler-13. .900 silver, .7734 oz. Diameter: 38.1 mm. Weight: 26.73 g. Mintage: 500,000. These coins were struck for Panama by the United States Mint in Philadelphia. They were struck to the exact standards of the old US silver dollars, though the United States had ceased production of any silver dollars of its own by 1947. The denomination was named for Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa, who was the first European to discover the Pacific Ocean when he crossed the isthmus of Panama. Despite its orientation in the slab and in these images, the helmeted portrait of Balboa is technically the reverse of this coin. To this day, Panamanian coins continue to be struck by the US mint, on US planchet stock. I got this coin in trade for another, very lustrous NGC MS65 1947 Balboa, from my friend Jason Foster. Since Jason has some Panamanian family history, I figured he should have the nicer example and traded my MS65 for his MS64, in a "friendly downgrade". This MS64 is still nice enough, though. Ex-Jason Foster, Canton, North Carolina. 017450
