Panama 1983-FM balboa
This specimen was lot 3417 in Stephen Album sale 50 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2024), where it sold for $108. The catalog description[1] noted, "PANAMA: Republic, AR 5 balboas, 1983-FM, blast white, slab label erroneously lists the denomination as 'balboa', NGC graded Proof 68 ULTRA CAMEO." 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. We don't know why the Franklin Mint, having gone to the trouble of designing and marketing such an impressive silver coin, chose to use 0.500 fine silver. This only speeded up the tarnishing process.
Recorded mintage: unknown but all proofs.
Specification: 20.74 g, 0.500 fine silver, 38.1 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-90.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 50, featuring selections from the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection, the Hakim Hamidi Collection, the Almer H. Orr III Collection and the Solar Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
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