The Lone Star State Collection Overview
The Lone Star State Collection gathers a privately issued 1986 commemorative series built around the 150th anniversary of Texas independence. Six obverse designs were struck in silver on one shared reverse reading “THE LONE STAR STATE,” with a Texas outline, the word “TEXAS,” a scatter of stars, and the legend “.999 FINE SILVER / ONE TROY OUNCE.” The series was sold through Colonial Coins, Inc. of Houston and ran in silver, gold, and bronze, with silver offered as 1 oz and ½ oz rounds, a 10 oz bar, and belt buckles. It is a commercial bullion-style program, not one of the state’s approved Sesquicentennial medallion programs; it has not been found among the vendor programs recorded in the Texas Sesquicentennial Commission’s records.
The anniversary gave the designs plenty to draw on. The Texas Declaration of Independence was signed on March 2, 1836, the Alamo fell four days later, and Sam Houston’s army won at San Jacinto on April 21. The war itself began at Gonzales on October 2, 1835, when settlers defied a Mexican demand to surrender their small cannon. Each design in the series picks up one thread of that story, and one honors Houston’s role in the space program.
The Lone Star State Collection Designs
Six obverse designs make up the series. In silver they share one reverse reading “THE LONE STAR STATE.” The bronze set uses the same six obverses with a reverse of its own.
- Lone Star
- Six Heroes
- The Alamo
- Gonzales Cannon
- Sam Houston
- NASA
The Lone Star State Collection Specifications
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Silver | 1 oz round, 1 oz serialized round, ½ oz round, 10 oz bar, belt buckle |
| Gold | 1 oz per design, 6-coin set, ¼ oz Texas Star (advertised only) |
| Bronze | 6-coin set |
| Year | 1986 |
The ½ oz round is the Lone Star design. The 10 oz bar and the belt buckle each come in the Lone Star and Six Heroes designs, and the buckles seen are 3 oz. Serialized 1 oz silver rounds exist, numbered in three digits on a smooth band within the reeded edge. Edition size is not documented. The gold formats are known only from period advertising; no gold piece has been examined.
Packaging documented: blue velvet clamshell (single round); Texas-shaped acrylic holder in several colors (single round); white acrylic holder (3-round set); black acrylic wall plaque (6-round set); maroon hard case lettered “1836 · Sesquicentennial · 1986 / Texas / 150 Years / Commemorative Medallions” (6-round set); and a wooden case (6-round set). Period advertising also offered a boxed set of six silver rounds.
The Lone Star State Collection Serialized Silver Rounds
The face of the round carries no serial, and the rest of the design matches the plain rounds” should become “No serial appears on either face.” I can’t support the claim that the design matches the plain rounds.
Serialized examples have been documented in three of the six designs:
| Design | Serials examined |
|---|---|
| Lone Star | 002 |
| Six Heroes | 012, 016 |
| Sam Houston | 020 |
No serialized Alamo, Gonzales Cannon, or NASA round has been seen yet. The examples examined are proof-like, with mirror fields and cameo contrast. Edition size and the numbering scheme are not documented, and no certificate, box, or paperwork has been found for any of them. Each serialized round is covered in its own coin entry.
The Lone Star State Collection Bronze Set
The bronze set is a 6-coin set of the same six obverses as the silver rounds, in bronze as advertised by Colonial Coins. The obverses match the silver pieces. The reverse does not.
The bronze reverse is a different die from the silver one. It carries the same “THE LONE STAR STATE” arch, the word “TEXAS” in a Texas outline, and a ring of stars around the rim, but it differs from the silver reverse in several ways:
- A blank ribbon banner fills the bottom of the field. Neither weight nor fineness is struck on the piece; the silver reverse has “.999 FINE SILVER / ONE TROY OUNCE” in that space.
- The Texas outline is a double line rather than a single raised silhouette.
- The stars inside the outline are larger and bolder.
- The lettering is heavier.
All six bronze pieces share this one reverse. The bronze set is documented on this page only; it has no individual coin entries.
The Lone Star State Collection 3 oz Silver Belt Buckles
The Lone Star and Heroes of Texas designs were available in a 3 oz silver belt buckle. Standard Mint (attributed). The Colonial buckle’s field order — name and address, serial, weight, fineness — matches the layout on documented Standard Mint pieces, with Colonial’s name and Houston address in place of Standard Mint’s own.
The Lone Star State Collection Attribution
Issuer and Distributor: Colonial Coins, Inc., 909 Travis Street, Houston (attributed). A Colonial Coin World advertisement lists the silver 1 oz Star, Hero, Houston, Alamo, Cannon, and Space designs alongside the gold and bronze versions, the ½ oz round, the bar, and the buckles, and the firm kept the line in its advertising for several years.
Manufacturer / Mint of the 1 oz and ½ oz silver rounds: Unknown. None of the rounds carries a mint mark, and no advertisement, record, or die comparison located so far names a maker.
Manufacturer / Mint of the bronze set: Unknown. The bronze pieces carry no mint mark either, and their reverse die is not the silver one.
The 10 oz bar: Standard Mint, confirmed by its struck “STANDARD MINT” name. Standard Mint was an Arizona firm whose documented work consists of bars and specialty pieces for several clients.
The belt buckles: Standard Mint (attributed). The Colonial buckle’s field order — name and address, serial, weight, fineness — matches the layout on documented Standard Mint pieces.
No connection between Standard Mint and the rounds has been found. The attribution of the bar and buckles rests on marks and layout found on those pieces only. The dies used for the rounds are not close to the dies used for the bars, and nothing else ties the rounds to Standard Mint.
The Lone Star State Collection Notes
- No Certificate of Authenticity, box paperwork, or mintage figure has surfaced for any piece in the series.
- Serialized 1 oz silver rounds exist, numbered in three digits on a smooth band within the reeded edge. Edition size is not documented.
- A gold-plated 1 oz Lone Star exists. Who plated it is unknown, and no period advertising located lists a gold-plated round, so it is not known whether the plating was done at the factory or added later.
- A different Sam Houston obverse appears on separate Colonial products, including the Sam Houston / Alamo Proof and the City of Houston Proof-Like. Those pieces are not part of this series.
- The ¼ oz gold Texas Star is known only from period advertising; no physical example has been located.
The Lone Star State Collection References
- Colonial Coins, Inc., period Coin World advertisement listing the Lone Star State designs and formats
- Colonial Coins, Inc., “Colonial Review” advertisement (Colonial Bullion Refinery)
- Texas Sesquicentennial Commission records (medallion subcommittee minutes and product inventory)
- WorthPoint sold listings for the six designs, packaging variants, and the 10 oz bar
- Colonial Coins, Inc. and Standard Mint, The Texas Stacker
- Documented examples examined (this entry)
- Texas Stacker Archives
Coins in this Collection (6)
