1/2 Dollar Compact of free association

The Compact of Free Association, signed by the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands in 1982 and ratified by the U.S. Congress in 1985, formally ended the Trust Territory arrangement that had governed the islands since 1947 under UN mandate. This coin marks that transition — the Marshall Islands issuing its own coinage for the first time as a self-governing state. The arrangement preserved American defense responsibilities and financial assistance in exchange for continued U.S. military access, including the strategically critical Kwajalein Atoll.

KM#1 — a country's very first catalog number — struck in .999 silver from the outset.