2012 Star Spangled Banner Silver Dollar - Proof

The American flag is one of the foremost symbols of freedom in the entire world, and it is a flag that many of thousands have given their lives to defend. It's a symbol of liberty and justice that has inspired thousands of works of art the world over, but none is more iconic than our very own National Anthem! It was on this very day, September 13th back in 1814, that Francis Scott Key penned the iconic poem that would become our nation’s National Anthem.

In honor of this historic occasion, we felt it was time to bring back a fan favorite after finding a small hoard of these special silver pieces while in Long Beach at the Coin Expo: the 2012 Star-Spangled Banner Proof Silver Dollar!

Today the "Star-Spangled Banner" is known as the National Anthem of the United States. Most can place Francis Scott Key as the author ... but does anyone remember the how and why this came to be? Scott Key, a young attorney, was sent by President James Madison to negotiate the release of American hostages on British naval ships. He was chosen because one of them was his close friend, Dr. William Beanes, who had been arrested during the attack on Washington. The British agreed to release the hostages, but Key and the others were forced to remain with the fleet for the duration of the battle, as they had overheard the British attack plans during their negotiation.

The next day, when the smoke from the bombs cleared, Key saw the stars and stripes of the garrison flag. Right there, on September 13, 1814, he wrote the verses of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

"The Star-Spangled Banner" was first recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889. It received a big lift from the military in the 1890's, as Army and Navy regulations ordered the playing of the song at all ceremonial occasions. Col. Caleb Carton, commanding officer at Fort Meade was successful in moving President Woodrow Wilson through an executive order in 1914, to designate "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the National Anthem. It was made the National Anthem through a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 and signed by then President Herbert Hoover.

Scott Key did coin one phrase that gave way to a motto so powerful that it still appears today on American currency. "In God We Trust" was inspired by a line in "The Star-Spangled Banner's" fourth verse: "Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'"

Did you know? The Star-Spangled Banner’s tempo and score was modeled after a famous Redcoat drinking song, ‘To Anacreon in Heaven’ that many of the soldiers were singing the night Key spent in a cell writing aboard the ship.