WASHINGTON – The US Mint and National Purple Heart Honor Mission, Inc. unveiled the designs for the 2022 National Purple Heart Hall of Honor Commemorative Coins on Veterans Day.
The designs will be featured on a gold coin, a silver coin, and a half dollar coin.
Coin prices include surcharges of $35 for each $5 gold coin, $10 for each silver dollar, and $5 for each clad half dollar. The law authorizes the Mint to pay the surcharges to the National Purple Heart Honor Mission, Inc., to support its mission and for capital improvements to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor facilities in New Windsor.
The National Purple Heart Honor Mission is a non-profit organization that supports a variety of programs to promote the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, pay tribute to Purple Heart recipients, and educate Americans about combat-wounded veterans.
Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (D, NY-18) championed the effort to have the coins created.
They will be struck at the US Mint at West Point.
The gold coin obverse (heads) design features the Purple Heart medal with the inscriptions, “Liberty,” “In God We Trust,” “The Purple Heart,” and “A Grateful Nation Honors and Remembers.”
The gold coin reverse (tails) design places George Washington’s signature under the Badge of Military Merit,” “E Pluribus Unum,” and “Five Dollars.”
Silver coin obverse features the Purple Heart medal with the inscriptions “Combat Wounded & Killed in Action,” “Liberty,” “1932,” “2022,” and “In God We Trust.” Five stars represent the branches of the military.
Silver coin reserve design shows a nurse in a World War I helmet as she bandages a wounded service member on a stretcher. More than 23,000 women nurses served in the Army and Navy during the war. Inscriptions are “United States of America,” “E Pluribus Unum,” and “One Dollar.”
The half dollar coin obverse design shows a figure in military fatigues and combat boots using a pair of crutches. The left leg has been amputated from the thigh down. The negative space below shows the missing leg in silhouette. The Purple Heart medal appears behind the figure, and the inscription, “All Gave Some,” sits below the composition. The background field has a subtitle flag motif. Additional inscriptions ae “In God We Trust,” “Liberty,” and “2022.”
The half dollar coin reverses design features a young boy holding the dress cap of an enlisted Marine. The silhouette of a Marine in dress blues stands behind him in negative space, emphasizing the loss that affects the families of Purple Heart recipients. The inscription “Some Gave All” is featured in the negative space around the boy in the lower half. The obverse backgrounds field flag motif is repeated.
Additional transcriptions are “E Pluribus Unum,” “United States of America,” and “Half Dollar.”
“The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor Commemorative Coin Program will honor the extraordinary sacrifices made by so many,” said United States Mint Acting Director Ventris Gibson. “We hope this program will assist the National Purple Heart Honor Mission, Inc, in its efforts to collect, preserve, and share the stories of all Purple Heart recipients.”
The on-sale date for products in the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor Commemorative Coin Program will be published on the Mint’s Product Schedule. When available, the Mint will accept orders at catalog.usmint.gov/.
