Palau - WW I - Remembrance Poppy - $1 - 2008 - Proof Gold Coin - Enameled - This legal tender coin was minted from .5 grams of .9999 gold and is 11 millimeters in diameter. The poem surrounding the images of the coin were written by Canadian physician John McCrae in 1915, during some of the fiercest fighting that took place in Flanders, Belgium during World War I. On Canada’s and Australia’s and Great Britain’s, Remembrance Day and Veterans Day in the United States, it is common custom to wear a paper or cloth poppy as a lapel pin. This tradition started in 1918 with a poem written by an Athens, Georgia native named Moina Michael. The great words of John McCrae’s poem inspired Ms. Michael to write her own work, entitled “We Shall Keep the Faith”. In her poem, Ms. Michael vows to keep the memory alive of those who died during the Great World War and will do so by wearing a poppy. True to her words, Ms. Michael steadfastly wore a poppy on her lapel while working in a canteen at the New York City YMCA. A French woman, Madame E. Guerin visited New York City and discovered the poignant symbol Ms. Michael wore daily. In 1920, Madame Guerin herself adopted the tradition of wearing poppies and turned the symbolic flower into a fundraiser to benefit children orphaned by the war, a tradition that continues to this day. In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders Fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders Fields. - John McCrae - 1915