SULLIVAN'S ISLAND - Fort Moultrie is about to be made of something richer than any other park in South Carolina.
An image from the history of the iconic national park at the tip of Charleston harbor will be minted onto quarter coins in 2016. As a bonus, a number of "investment coins" will be minted, three-inch discs of fine silver. Those coins now sell for about $225 each.
The Design Rendering Of Sgt William Jasper To Be Featured On Some Quarter Coins In 2016
Sgt. William Jasper waving the Palmetto flag was picked by a U.S. Mint citizens committee earlier this week. Gary Marks, committee chairman, called it a depiction of an iconic moment in the classic 1776 Revolutionary War victory that immortalized the fort.
"We felt it was a heroic rendering of Sgt. Jasper," said Marks, a Lebanon, Ore., medallic artist.
"It's a great recognition, and 2016 will be the centennial celebration of the National Park Service," said Park Superintendent Tim Stone. "Sometimes Fort Moultrie gets in the shadows of Fort Sumter. But a whole lot of history took place here."
The Fort Moultrie coins will be among five national park or site designs issued for 2016 as part of the America the Beautiful series started in 2010. All told, 56 America the Beautiful designs will be issued, one from each state or territory. The designs appear on the reverse side of the coin; the obverse side still depicts George Washington.
In that furious 1776 battle, nine British warships pounded the fort for more than nine hours trying to seize Charleston, the largest town and maybe the most significant seaport south of Philadelphia. Among them, the ships stacked nearly 300 cannons and touched off some 32,000 pounds of gunpowder in the fight.
Sgt. William Jasper waving the Palmetto flag was picked by a U.S. Mint citizens committee earlier this week. Gary Marks, committee chairman, called it a depiction of an iconic moment in the classic 1776 Revolutionary War victory that immortalized the fort.
"We felt it was a heroic rendering of Sgt. Jasper," said Marks, a Lebanon, Ore., medallic artist.
"It's a great recognition, and 2016 will be the centennial celebration of the National Park Service," said Park Superintendent Tim Stone. "Sometimes Fort Moultrie gets in the shadows of Fort Sumter. But a whole lot of history took place here."
The Fort Moultrie coins will be among five national park or site designs issued for 2016 as part of the America the Beautiful series started in 2010. All told, 56 America the Beautiful designs will be issued, one from each state or territory. The designs appear on the reverse side of the coin; the obverse side still depicts George Washington.
In that furious 1776 battle, nine British warships pounded the fort for more than nine hours trying to seize Charleston, the largest town and maybe the most significant seaport south of Philadelphia. Among them, the ships stacked nearly 300 cannons and touched off some 32,000 pounds of gunpowder in the fight.
The fort, not yet even fully built, had only 30 guns. But it also had two walls of spongy palmetto logs with a 16-foot-wide packing of sand between them. Cannonballs bounced off.
In an attempt to humiliate and demoralize the Patriots, the British shot down their flag - a dishonor, because striking the colors was a sign of surrender.
The intrepid Sgt. Jasper leaped the walls, grabbed the flag out of a ditch in the sand, defiantly waved it at the British and jammed it back up on a ramming staff.
The battle took place just as the founders gathered in Philadelphia to debate and eventually sign the Declaration of Independence, and the victory likely boosted the confidence of the signers.
Col. William Moultrie, the fort commander, designed the flag, which featured the distinctive crescent "moon" now a part of the state flag. But the "moon" might actually have been the silver crescent emblem worn by the 2nd South Carolina Regiment that defended the fort. It's still debated.
Fort Moultrie was chosen as the site to be depicted by then-governor Mark Sanford, a Sullivan's Island resident at the time. Marks said he expected final approval of the design to be made before the end of the year.
The battle took place just as the founders gathered in Philadelphia to debate and eventually sign the Declaration of Independence, and the victory likely boosted the confidence of the signers.
Col. William Moultrie, the fort commander, designed the flag, which featured the distinctive crescent "moon" now a part of the state flag. But the "moon" might actually have been the silver crescent emblem worn by the 2nd South Carolina Regiment that defended the fort. It's still debated.
Fort Moultrie was chosen as the site to be depicted by then-governor Mark Sanford, a Sullivan's Island resident at the time. Marks said he expected final approval of the design to be made before the end of the year.
