2019 Patriot World War II 1 oz Proof Like Silver Round - Mason Mint

Buy 2019 Patriot World War II 1 oz Proof Like Silver Round - Mason Mint

The third and last series of the PATRIOT commemorative military 1 oz silver rounds honors America's fighting men of WWII. The prooflike silver round's title, "Awakened A Sleeping Giant", refers to the famous quote attributed to the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. As his staff were celebrating the success of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Yamamoto reportedly replied "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." Whether Yamamoto actually said those words or not, the prophecy came true with horrible consequences for the Empire of Japan.

The reverse of the Mason Mint "Awakened A Sleeping Giant" silver round features a famous Chance Vought F4U Corsair fighter plane zooming over the flight deck of an Essex-class aircraft carrier of the US Navy. The Corsair's unusual inverted gull wing was necessary to provide enough clearance for the giant propeller mounted to its massive Double Wasp radial engine. A pair of equally-famous F6F Grumman Hellcats flank the "Bent-Wing Bird." The F6F was the U.S. Navy's main carrier-based fighter plane for the last half of WWII. A Japanese Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighter has been shot down in the left foreground.

The middle foreground of this WWII-themed silver round features one of the most recognizable images of the entire war: The raising of the American flag on the top of Mt. Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima. The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest of the grueling war in the Pacific. The beach and jungle of a Pacific island stretches across the bottom. A M4 Sherman medium tank guards a jungle stream. The tank commander is standing out of the turret hatch to scan for the enemy. A famous Mk 2 "pineapple" hand grenade sits in the bottom right, while an iconic US Marine Corp KA-BAR fighting knife stretches across the very bottom. Behind everything is a looming mushroom cloud, symbolizing the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- the ultimate power of the "sleeping giant" that was awakened at Pearl Harbor.

Two inscriptions occupy the rim of the silver round. "Awakened A Sleeping Giant" arches across the top of the rim, and "World War II" occupies the bottom. The two mottoes are separated by a five-pointed star and a pair of military "dog tags."

The obverse of the "Awakened A Sleeping Giant" commemorative WWII silver round is shared with the other two series in the PATRIOT program, which cover the Revolutionary War and World War I. The busts of a Revolutionary War Minuteman, WWI pilot, and WWII sailor are the focal points of the design. The faces surround a monument at the bottom of the coin, surmounted by an American bald eagle. The monument is dominated by the word PATRIOT. The mintage date of 2019 appears at the bottom. A billowing American flag provides a backdrop. Two WWI SPAD fighter planes appear behind the Air Service pilot, and an Iowa-class battleship is seen behind the sailor. The Minuteman's tricorn hat splits the inscriptions "1 Troy Ounce" and ".999 Fine Silver."

The 2019 PATRIOT "Awakened A Sleeping Giant" prooflike 1 oz silver round also comes in an antiqued finish that really brings out the highlights of the design.