Catalog
50 Centésimos Fernando de Lesseps
| Issuer | Panama |
|---|---|
| Year | 1975-1982 |
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| Technique | Milled |
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| Obverse lettering | REPUBLICA DE PANAMA ********* PRO MUNDI BENEFICIO FM 50 CENTESIMOS (Translation: Republic of Panama For the Benefit of the World FM 50 Centesimos) |
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| Edge | Reeded |
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| Additional information |
Fernando de Lesseps organized the French canal effort that began in 1881 and collapsed spectacularly by 1889 — a failure driven by yellow fever, engineering miscalculation, and financial scandal that bankrupted hundreds of thousands of French investors and ended with de Lesseps himself convicted of fraud. Panama's decision to honor him on circulating coinage is a pointed acknowledgment that the French attempt, however ruinous, was the indispensable precursor to the American project that followed.
KM#38 ran across nearly a decade of issues without major design alteration.