P-51 Mustang – Eagle Reverse

Excelling both as a long-range bomber escort and low-altitude combat fighter plane, the P-51 Mustang is considered by many as one of the greatest aircraft designs of all time. So admired and respected was the design that it was declared to be the “most aerodynamically perfect pursuit plane in existence” by the Truman Senate War Investigating Committee in 1944.

A highly maneuverable, turbo-powered aircraft with a maximum speed of 425 miles per hour, the P-51 Mustang had a remarkable success rate, especially in the European combat theater, destroying more than 5,000 German planes.

First flown on May 20, 1941, the P-51 was modified at least seven times before production of this legendary aircraft ceased. Throughout the war, it was used extensively to complete low-altitude bombing runs, crippling enemy transport and disrupting their supply lines. Prior to the famous allied assault on the island of Sicily and the subsequent invasion of the Italian peninsula, the P-51 cleared the way, ensuring allied success in what proved to be a major turning point in the war.

This coin salutes the unmatched success of the P-51 Mustang, a combat aircraft without equal in the annals of aviation history. Struck in a brass alloy and finished in antique bronze, this coin comes packaged with a header card that provides a detailed account of the P-51’s brilliant history.