1986 Alamo – Lone Star State Silver Round

MintUnknown Mint

IssuerColonial Coins (Houston TX)

DistributorColonial Coins (Houston TX)

CollectionThe Lone Star State Collection

The Alamo church facade with its curved gable stands before a large star, a flag above it. "TEXAS" and "SESQUI CENTENNIAL" run across the top, "REMEMBER THE ALAMO" along the bottom, and "1836" over "1986" at the foot of the star.

"THE LONE STAR STATE" arches over an outline of Texas bearing the word "TEXAS" and scattered stars. ".999 FINE SILVER" and "ONE TROY OUNCE" are struck below.

1986 Alamo – Lone Star State Silver Round Overview

The 1986 Alamo – Lone Star State Silver Round is the Alamo design of The Lone Star State Collection, a six-design 1986 series sold through Colonial Coins, Inc. of Houston to mark the 150th anniversary of Texas independence. Of all the subjects a sesquicentennial round could carry, the Alamo was the obvious one: it is the place where 1836 is remembered most. The building on the coin is the one everyone knows, but it is not the one the defenders held.

The Alamo began as a mission. It was founded on May 1, 1718, as San Antonio de Valero, named for Saint Anthony of Padua and the Duke of Valero, the Spanish viceroy, and moved to its present site in 1724 after a hurricane destroyed most of its buildings, according to the Handbook of Texas. The cornerstone of the chapel was laid on May 8, 1744. It suffered a structural collapse in the mid-1750s, and reconstruction that began in 1758 was never completed. The name came later. The Handbook says the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras, from Álamo de Parras in Coahuila, occupied the abandoned mission from 1803, which “probably” led to the name, though some historians link it to a cottonwood grove on the banks of the acequia. Álamo is the Spanish word for cottonwood.

The siege lasted thirteen days. Santa Anna’s arrival at Bexar on February 23, 1836, began it, and William Barret Travis’s message that day claimed 150 men. The official list of defenders shows 189, and the Handbook entry on the battle says research may raise the total as high as 257. About 1,800 Mexican troops advanced from four directions around 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 6. The assault lasted no more than ninety minutes, and by eight o’clock every Alamo fighting man was dead. The best estimates put Mexican casualties near 600. The women, children, and enslaved people inside were led out, and Santa Anna gave each woman and child safe passage, a blanket, and two dollars. Susanna Dickinson and her infant daughter went to Gonzales and told Sam Houston, and her report set off the Runaway Scrape. Travis, Bowie, and Crockett were among the dead, and their stories are told in the entry for the [Heroes of Texas design]([add URL]).

The cry that appears on the coin did its work six weeks later. At San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, as the Texian line charged, the men shouted “Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember Goliad!” The Handbook entry on San Jacinto says the battle lasted but eighteen minutes. Nine of the 910 Texans were killed or mortally wounded. Houston’s report counted 630 Mexicans killed and 730 taken prisoner. The round carries those same words, “REMEMBER THE ALAMO,” around its foot and sets the dates 1836 and 1986 together at the base of a large star, so the anniversary and the battle read as one thought.

The church at the center of that star did not look like this in 1836. After the battle the Handbook describes the building as practically in ruins. The U.S. Army used it for quartermaster purposes from the Mexican War until the Civil War and again after, until 1877, and the chapel’s “iconic arched gable” was added in 1850 under Bvt. Maj. Edwin Burr Babbitt of the Quartermaster Corps, with contractors John M. Fries and David Russi doing the work. The curved parapet is the silhouette that came to stand for the Alamo, and it is the shape on the round, so the coin shows the Army’s remodel rather than the mission chapel of the siege. Texas bought the chapel from the Catholic Church under an act of April 23, 1883, and a 1905 legislative resolution put it and the Long Barrack in the care of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Of the six obverses in the series, this is the only one that breaks the word “SESQUI CENTENNIAL” in two, letting the star’s upper point stand between the halves. No source located so far says who drew the design.

1986 Alamo – Lone Star State Silver Round Attribution

The year is struck on the obverse in the stacked dates 1836 and 1986, so no dating attribution is needed. The round carries no mint mark or maker’s name, and nothing located so far identifies the plant that struck it.

Issuer and distributor are attributed to Colonial Coins, Inc.. A period Colonial Coin World advertisement lists the Lone Star State line, including the “Alamo” design in 1 oz silver, as Colonial’s product. No Certificate of Authenticity or original packaging has been tied to this example, so the attribution rests on the advertisement and is attributed, not confirmed.

1986 Alamo – Lone Star State Silver Round Notes

• The reverse is shared with the other five silver obverses of The Lone Star State Collection.
• A separate Colonial product, the Sam Houston / Alamo Proof, also carries an Alamo obverse; whether it is the same die has not been checked. That piece is not part of this series.
• No serialized Alamo round has been seen yet.
• This entry covers the plain 1 oz silver round only.

1986 Alamo – Lone Star State Silver Round References

• The Alamo, Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
• Alamo, Battle of the, Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
• San Jacinto, Battle of, Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
• Colonial Coins, Inc., period Coin World advertisement listing the Lone Star State designs and formats
• The Lone Star State Collection, The Texas Stacker
• Colonial Coins, Inc. (Houston, TX), The Texas Stacker
• Documented example examined (this entry)
• Texas Stacker Archives

Continue Exploring

← Previous1986 Gonzales Cannon – Lone Star State Silver Round

Next →1986 Heroes of Texas – Lone Star State Silver Round

Other Coins in this Collection: The Lone Star State Collection

1986 Gonzales Cannon – Lone Star State Silver Round1986 Heroes of Texas – Lone Star State Silver Round1986 Lone Star – Lone Star State Silver Round1986 NASA – Lone Star State Silver Round1986 Sam Houston – Lone Star State Silver Round

MintUnknown Mint50 coins in the archive

→