In 1975, Panama’s 100-Balboa Gold Coin Made History
In the first week of January in 1975, the Franklin Mint announced that it would display the first gold coin minted in the United States for Americans since the removal of the government’s 41-year ban on ownership of modern gold coins.
The display highlighted the 1975 100-Balboa of the Republic of Panama, the first gold coin of any nation to be minted in the United States since April, 1933 which could freely be owned by U.S. Citizens.
1975 100-Balboa Gold Bullion Coin - Click image
The 100-Balboa is official legal tender in Panama, with a nominal value at the time equivalent to 100 U.S. dollars. It was the first gold coin ever issued by the Republic of Panama.
It was also the first gold coin ever minted by The Franklin Mint, the world’s largest private mint and at the time the only private mint in the United States authorized by governments of other nations to strike their monetary coins.
It is important to note that the new gold coin also had commemorative significance, honoring the 500th anniversary of the birth of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the great explorer whose expeditions across Panama led to the discovery of the Pacific Ocean.
The availability of this historic gold bullion coin for American citizens was recognized as a significant event. The 100-Balboa gold coin of Panama was displayed in “Gold and Silver Center” exhibits through the end of January, 1975. Information on how customers could obtain proof specimens of the new gold coin was available at the exhibit.”
The face of the coin bears a finely detailed portrait of Balboa. The reverse carries the national coat of arms of the Republic of Panama. The 1975 One Hundred Balboa Gold Coins of Panama are 26mm (1.012″) in diameter and contain 8.16 grams of 900/1000 fine gold.
The official 1975 issue price for these coins was only $140.00.
By direction of the Republic of Panama, an ordering deadline of Jan. 31, 1975, was imposed, with an absolute limit of one proof coin per order. The total number of proofs to be minted was to be permanently limited to the exact number ordered by Jan. 31, 1975. No other proofs of this historic first issue were ever to be minted. And so the gold 100-Balboa’s honored place in history was set.