The Korean War Memorial silver dollar is a commemorative silver dollar issued by the United States Mint in 1991. The coin commemorated the 38th anniversary of the end of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Legislation

The Korean War Veterans Memorial Thirty-Eighth Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act () authorized the production of a silver dollar to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the ending of the Korean War and in honor of those who served. The act allowed the coins to be struck in both

proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a con ...

and uncirculated finishes. The coins were released May 6, 1991.

Design

The obverse of the coin was designed by

John Mercanti John M. Mercanti (born April 27, 1943) is an American sculptor and engraver. He was the twelfth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint until his retirement in late 2010. Biography Mercanti was born in Philadelphia. There, he attended the Penn ...

. It features a soldier climbing a hill with naval ships in the foreground, and two

F-86 Sabres The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

flying overhead. The reverse was designed by T. James Ferrell and features a map of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and the head of a

Bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

Production and sales

A maximum mintage of 1,000,000 Korean War Memorial dollars was authorized. The coin was struck in two versions, a

proof coin Proof coinage refers to special early samples of a coin issue, historically made for checking the dies (as in demonstrating that something is true) and for archival purposes. Nowadays proofs are often struck in greater numbers specially for coi ...

(struck at the Philadelphia Mint) and an uncirculated coin (struck at the

Denver Mint The Denver Mint is a branch of the United States Mint that struck its first coins on February 1, 1906. The mint is still operating and producing coins for circulation, as well as mint sets and commemorative coins. Coins produced at the Denver Min ...

). Surcharges raised by the sale of the coins went towards the construction of the Korean War Veterans Memorial. 618,488 proof and 213,049 uncirculated coins were sold, for a total mintage of 831,537.

References

1991 establishments in the United States Korean War monuments and memorials in the United States Modern United States commemorative coins {{US-stub

Legislation

Design

Production and sales

See also

References