Panama 1979-FM 100 balboas
This specimen was lot 1975 in Goldberg sale 93 (Los Angeles, September 2016), where it sold for $317.25. The catalog description[1] noted, "Panama. 100 Balboas, 1979 Choice Brilliant Proof. Pre-Columbian Art - Golden Turtle. In original sealed cachet. Choice Brilliant Proof." This denomination was first used for medium gold commemoratives in 1975 and the Franklin Mint issued all of them until 1985. Unfortunately, collecting Panamanian coins lost its popularity after the Franklin mint overissued proof sets and commemoratives in the 1970's and 1980's. For years, few Panamanian coins sold for more than melt.
Recorded mintage: 50 matte proofs, 240 uncirculated plus 4,829 proofs.
Specification: 8.16 g, 0.900 fine gold, .2361 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: KM-60.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Goldberg, Ira, Larry Goldberg, John Lavender, Yifu Che, Jason Villareal and Stephen Harvey, Goldberg Sale 93: the Pre-Long Beach Auction, Los Angeles: Goldberg Coins and Collectibles, 2016.
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