Honoring America POWs With The U.S. Prisoner of War Museum Dollar

The 1994 U.S. Prisoner of War Dollar remembers America’s thousands of POWs, both rescued and those awaiting their return home. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView. Click image to enlarge.

The United States military lists more than 80,000 servicepeople among the ranks of American prisoners of war, or “POWs.” At this very moment, military officials are processing cases, following leads, and planning rescue and recovery missions to find and bring home American POWs all over the world, some unaccounted for going back decades. Their mission is to return each home to their families and loved ones. It’s a tireless endeavor that has helped reunite thousands of POWs with their families. Each of these stories is unique, and all paint a picture that all too many have personally experienced.

The National Prisoner of War Museum is situated in Andersonville, Georgia, and is the only museum in the United States with a singular mission to help tell the story of American prisoners of war and their experiences. The museum, located on the Andersonville National Historic Site, is part of the Georgia World War II Heritage Trail and gives visitors the opportunity to learn what prisoners or war are, the conditions they have experienced, their agonizing plight, and their paths toward freedom. Movies about the POW experience are also presented each day of operation.

The National Prisoner of War Museum opened in 1998 largely as the result of donated funds, some of which came from the sale of the 1994 Prisoners of War Museum Silver Dollar. The obverse, designed by Tom Nielsen and modeled by Alfred Maletsky, shows a bald eagle with a broken chain around one of its legs flying through a loop of barbed wire. The reverse, featuring the National Prisoner of War Museum in Andersonville, was designed by Edgar Z. Steever IV.

A maximum of 500,000 strikes were authorized, and 54,893 uncirculated specimens and 224,449 proofs were eventually sold. The lower distribution of the uncirculated coin has not lent to substantial premiums for the issue, save for MS70 specimens. Proofs are readily available in all grades through PR69 for nominal prices above melt, though PR70 examples have proven relatively difficult and command prices north of $500.