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- 1/10-Ounce Pure Gold Coin - 75th anniversary of the world's first mobile blood transfusion unit (2011)
1/10-Ounce Pure Gold Coin - 75th anniversary of the world's first mobile blood transfusion unit (2011)


Our FIRST EVER single 1/10-ounce gold coin, crafted in 99.99% pure gold.
Highlights:
Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the creation of the world's first mobile blood transfusion vehicle by Canadian physician and medical inventor Dr. Norman Bethune. Crafted in 99.99% pure gold, hand polished to proof perfection.
Packaging:
Coin is encapsulated and presented in a maroon clamshell case lined with flock and protected by a black sleeve.
Life-saving innovation on the front lines.
It was 1936, on the front lines of the
Spanish Civil War, when one of medicine’s
most memorable figures re-defined the
very essence of military medicine.
Canadian-born Dr. Henry Norman Bethune
(1890–1939) was dismayed to see that
some 75% of wounded soldiers were dying
of blood loss when their injuries should
not have been fatal. He recognized that
precious time was being lost transporting
the wounded to medical facilities, and
developed a way to bring medical care
directly to them in the field.
Bethune began collecting blood from
volunteer donors and set about the
challenging task of refrigerating the blood
and transporting it—along with critical
dressings and surgical tools; to the front
lines. It was a stunning innovation that
enabled Bethune and his small medical
team to perform as many as 100 blood
transfusions in the field every day—and
save thousands of lives.
Bethune’s mobile blood transfusion
unit is just one of many breakthrough
contributions he made to the evolution
of medicine. Indeed, it’s credited with
inspiring the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
(M.A.S.H.) units that appeared during the
Korean War.
Specifications
- No.113856
- Mintage 5,000
- Composition99.99% pure gold
- Finishproof
- Weight (g) 3.13
- Diameter (mm) 16
- Edgeserrated
- Certificateserialized
- Face value5 dollars
- ArtistHarvey Chan (reverse) , Susanna Blunt (obverse)