The obverse depicts the Gonzales battle flag mounted on a pole, bearing a cannon beneath a lone star and the inscription “COME AND TAKE IT.” A stylized rising sun appears above the flag. Surrounding the central design is a ring of stars along the outer field. The commemorative date “1836 – 1986” is positioned below the flag, marking the 150th anniversary of Texas Independence.
The reverse carries a circular legend reading “.999 FINE SILVER” and “ONE TROY OUNCE.” Centered within a recessed, finely textured inner field is the date "1985" or “1986,” positioned above a silhouette of the State of Texas. The outer ring is polished with raised lettering that contrasts against the matte central field.
1985-86 Come And Take It Silver Round Overview
The 1985-86 Come and Take It Silver Round, part of the Texas 150th Anniversary Collection, is a 1 oz .999 fine silver commemorative marking the 150th anniversary of Texas independence. The obverse depicts the Gonzales battle flag mounted on a pole, bearing a cannon beneath a lone star and the inscription “COME AND TAKE IT,” with a stylized rising sun above and a ring of stars around the field. The reverse carries a Texas-silhouette device within a “.999 FINE SILVER · ONE TROY OUNCE” legend, struck in two separate dated variants — “1985” and “1986.”
1985-86 Come And Take It Silver Round Attribution
Mint is attributed to World Wide Mint (Bloomington, MN) on the basis of reverse-die linkage shared across the full Texas 150th Anniversary Collection; see the mint page for the underlying reasoning. Distributor is John Grayson (San Benito / Harlingen, TX), confirmed through period Coin World and Texas Monthly advertisements and corroborated by a firsthand account naming Grayson as a wholesale source supplying multiple area dealers; see the collection page for full sourcing.
1985-86 Come And Take It Silver Round Historical Significance
The flag reproduced on the obverse is not a surviving artifact — the original Gonzales flag was lost, and no contemporary 1835 description or image of it is known to exist. The familiar design of a black cannon beneath a single star, over the words “COME AND TAKE IT,” comes down to us from later recollections and 20th-century reconstructions rather than a documented original, fixed by repetition and convention rather than surviving evidence. The coin depicts the Gonzales flag as popular memory has reconstructed it, not as it is known to have actually appeared.
The event it commemorates is well documented, whatever the flag looked like. In October 1835, Mexican authorities in Texas demanded the return of a small cannon that had been loaned to the settlers at Gonzales for defense against Comanche raids. The Texian settlers refused, and when a Mexican detachment arrived to retrieve it, the two sides exchanged fire on October 2, 1835 — the first armed engagement of the Texas Revolution. The cannon itself was more symbolic than militarily significant, but the settlers’ defiant refusal to surrender it, memorialized in the “Come and Take It” slogan, became one of the Revolution’s most enduring expressions of resolve, predating the fall of the Alamo by five months and the Goliad Declaration by over two.
1985-86 Come And Take It Silver Round Notes
- Two struck date variants exist: “1985” and “1986” on the reverse, reflecting the original and reissue years noted in the period sales brochure for the full 8-coin set
- See the Texas 150th Anniversary Collection page for the complete set, pricing, and distributor background
1985-86 Come And Take It Silver Round References
- World Wide Mint (Bloomington, MN), The Texas Stacker
- John Grayson (San Benito / Harlingen, TX), The Texas Stacker
- Texas 150th Anniversary Collection (1985–1986), The Texas Stacker
- Texas Stacker Archives
