Depicts a sailing vessel at sea representing the Texas Navy. Legend at right reads “THE TEXAS NAVY.” Banners name three ships: “INVINCIBLE,” “INDEPENDENCE,” and “BRUTUS.” Date “1836 – 1986” appears at the bottom. Field is predominantly mirrored with frosted relief elements.
Circular legend reads “.999 FINE SILVER” and “ONE TROY OUNCE.” Centered date “1985.” Silhouette of the State of Texas appears below the date within a recessed matte field. Outer ring is polished with raised lettering; inner field is textured.
1985-86 Texas Navy Silver Round Overview
The 1985-86 Texas Navy 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 a sailing vessel at sea beneath the legend “THE TEXAS NAVY,” naming three ships — “INVINCIBLE,” “INDEPENDENCE,” and “BRUTUS” — above the commemorative dates “1836 – 1986.” 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 Texas Navy 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 Texas Navy Silver Round Historical Significance
The three ships named on the obverse — Invincible, Independence, and Brutus — were three of the four vessels of what’s now called the First Texas Navy, commissioned by the provisional Texas government in early 1836. A fourth ship, the Liberty, is not named on this piece. None of the four were purpose-built warships; like most small revolutionary navies, they were converted merchant schooners pressed into service and armed for the fight. All four were lost within about a year of the Revolution: Independence was captured by a Mexican warship in April 1837, Brutus ran aground and wrecked that same year, and Invincible was lost similarly soon after — meaning the entire fleet depicted on this coin had effectively ceased to exist well before the Sesquicentennial it’s dated to even began counting from.
Small and short-lived as it was, the Texas Navy carried out a mission disproportionate to its size: harassing Mexican supply ships along the Gulf coast, intercepting vessels carrying troops and provisions bound for Santa Anna’s army, and helping keep open a lifeline of arms and volunteers flowing into Texas from the United States. The Navy’s most consequential single act may have been escorting a ship carrying Texas’s own commissioners and, separately, helping ensure Mexican reinforcements didn’t reach the coast in time to affect the outcome at San Jacinto — making this often-overlooked four-ship fleet a quieter but real contributor to the independence this entire collection commemorates.
1985-86 Texas Navy 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 Texas Navy 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
