When we see our flag today, we see a blue field with 50 stars and 13 alternating red and white stripes representing the 13 original colonies.  But as you're all aware, our flag has evolved over the decades and has added stars along the way as new States are added to the Union.  But did you know that the Stripes also increased in number too?   The flag that flew over Fort McHenry in 1814 when the British attacked had 15 Stars and 15 Stripes representing the 13 original colonies and the two new states of Vermont and Kentucky.   Of course the practicality of adding stars AND stripes to the flag was soon in question and all our subsequent flags have 13 stripes. 

Oddly enough, by 1814, when Fort McHenry was attacked by the British, we actually had 18 States so our flag was already outdated.  A new flag with 20 Stars and 13 Stripes (the current stripe standard) did not appear until 1818.  But this is a blog about a particular coin issued in 2012 to commemorate the writing of the Star Spangled Banner.  According to legend, Francis Scott Key was observing the bombarding of Fort McHenry in September of 1814 when through a clearing of the smoke, he spied our flag flying proudly over the Fort and wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner, this became our National Anthem in 1931 and has bedeviled famous singers ever since. 

In my humble opinion, the design of this coin is one of the best in the modern era with its obverse portraying Liberty proudly holding the Flag with Fort McHenry in the background along with Liberty,  In God We Trust, and 2012 P.  The Reverse shows a view of the star filled field billowing in the breeze with One Dollar, E Pluribus Unum, and United States of America.  The obverse was designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill, the reverse was designed by William C. Burgard III and sculpted by Don Everhart. 

Two oddities about this coin, the date 2012 does not correspond to the actual event pictured which occurred in 1814.  Unlike the vast majority of U.S. coin, the design itself does not feature the date at the center bottom (even though it is slabbed incorrectly) the body of Liberty should be at the center bottom to make the design work properly.