A coin made with the Pacific War Channel for everyone who has watched the Battle off Samar told minute by minute.

How it works: reserve your coin for $1. If 100 coins are reserved by the deadline, we strike the coin and charge the rest of the $25 price plus $5 shipping worldwide. If we do not reach 100, nothing is made and your $1 comes back to you.

The story on the back: on the morning of 25 October 1944, off Samar, the escort carriers of Task Unit 77.4.3 ("Taffy 3") found a large Japanese force closing on them. Aboard the destroyer USS Johnston, Commander Ernest E. Evans did not wait for orders. He called for maximum speed, began making smoke, and opened fire at 0710. Then he turned toward the enemy, closed to within ten thousand yards and fired all ten torpedoes. One hit the heavy cruiser Kumano and knocked her out of the battle. Johnston fought on under heavy fire until she rolled over and sank at 1010. Of the 327 men aboard, 141 were rescued after more than 50 hours in the water. Evans, her only captain, received the Medal of Honor.

Front: the Pacific War Channel logo struck in metal. The reticle with its crosshairs and range scale, PACIFIC in high polished letters, WAR below in a stippled finish that stands in for the red of the logo.

Back: USS Johnston (DD-557) in side profile as she was at Samar: Fletcher class, square bridge, five 5-inch guns, two funnels, two torpedo mounts, no camouflage. USS JOHNSTON DD-557 above, SAMAR 25 OCT 1944 below.

Spec: 45 mm, die-struck brass, antique finish, rope border on the ship side, in a clear capsule.

Images are design renders, not photos of a struck coin.