Found one thread here on this thing but no mention of value. Most info. I have is from its page on so-calleddollars.com, which says: "Disposition of issue, following passage through Canal, is not known but today medal is quite scarce." Coin says 50,000 made. No clue how many are out there. Not selling it because it comes from my great-grandfather, who helped oversee construction of the canal. Just curious about its rarity. Actually, if it's worth $5 billion I'll sell it.
Might want to look at Heritage at www.ha.com and see if they have auction records for it. It is a lovely medal and a nice thing to have to remind you of your great grandfather. That same year my great great grandmother attended the Panama Pacific Expo in San Francisco, she bought an octagonal medal similar to the $50 coin that I have in my collection of her memorabilia from that expo.
yeah, I checked Heritage. Nothing came up. Emailed the so-calleddollars.com folks to see if they had any additional info., have not heard anything so far.
ooops - OK, actually registered with Heritage's siteand found a coin from a past auction similar to mine. Sold for $69.
That's a very interesting medal, I see on the inscription it was carried through the canal on the first vessel to traverse it. Neat. (On a lighter note, it appears that the figure.. is that Liberty or Prosperity?... is wearing a pair of gigantic cartoon rubber boots [probably she's supposed to be standing on the canal locks] and the eagle seems to have its thumbs in its ears, saying Nyah Nyah!! [probably to the French, whose Canal project ended in dismal failure])
