Guam

Guam is an island located in the Mariana Islands of the western Pacific. To us, it is also familiar as a vacation destination. Guam is not a U.S. state but holds the status called a “territory (unincorporated territory).” It refers to a U.S. island that belongs to the United States yet has not yet been incorporated as a state.

The reverse of the coin depicts the island’s outline together with a traditional sailing canoe, the “proa,” and a stone pillar, the “latte stone.” Beside it are the words in the Chamorro language “Guahan I Tanó ManChamorro,” meaning “Guam, Land of the Chamorro People.”

The latte stone is a traditional stone pillar that the Chamorro people, the island’s native inhabitants, have long used as columns when building homes and structures. The proa is the traditional sailing craft in which they roamed the wide seas. The two symbols proudly show the life and culture of the native people who had protected this land long before Guam became a U.S. territory.

Guam became a U.S. territory in 1898, as a result of the Spanish-American War. This island, which Spain had ruled until then, came into the United States’ embrace after the war.

Within the small coin, the shape of the island, the boat that cut through the sea, and the native people’s stone pillar are placed side by side. Looking closely at the coin, you come to feel anew that Guam is not merely a resort but the “Land of the Chamorro People,” possessing a long history and a distinctive culture of its own.