World War I Centennial Silver Dollar Fails To Demonstrate Basic Gun Safety

Good catch. And 100% agree. How did that pass QA?

It's a WW1 soldier aka draftee not the battle harden professional military of today. You are being way over critical on this and failing to consider the time. I can guarantee you they didn't demonstrate trigger discipline while being sent to their death over the barbed wire between the trenches.

I see in the area of the date 1918 2018, it seems a bit odd that some of the body is missing. The shading was left out for the shoulder or this is two completely different people? One with a profile bust of a soldier who has lost an eye and another of a pair of arms holding a rifle.
Nobody is doubting the horror of WWI, but of all the artistic talent in the country, I find this design lacking and disappointing.

I don't think that the artist put the finger inside the trigger guard in an effort to demonstrate the poor gun safety of the time. It's most likely that he drew it that way because he's ignorant regarding gun safety and thought it looked good. Soldiers and people in generally were not as aware about gun safety as they are today, but I think that it'd be good to take a little creative liberty and depict the soldier in a manner that gives him the benefit of the doubt.

My father fought in Vietnam. He knew a guy (I don't know if he was a friend or not) that was killed because he didn't practice basic gun safety. The guy was climbing a hill and another soldier was behind him. The soldier behind him asked for help getting up the hill, so the guy held his M16 by the front handguard near the muzzle and stretched it out for the soldier in the rear to grab on to. Unfortunately, the soldier in the rear grabbed the pistol grip, put his finger on the trigger and pulled it. The result was a burst of automatic fire that killed the guy who had held out his rifle for the soldier in the rear to grab on to. When the army informed his family that he had died, they didn't tell them how. I guess that they didn't want to tell them that he had got himself hilled because he didn't put his safety on. Unfortunately, the family later read about it in a news magazine.

Got a question for you brainiacs. You ever been in combat around coiled barbwire? Are you even a friggin vet? Have you been trained in military combat arms? I have. I also have crossed barbwire barriers, where the FIRST RULE is to keep your weapon free from entanglement, approaching the barrier with your body, lifting your arms(both) above the barrier while swinging weapon UP AND OVER to fire at the enemy. Now, second point, fire discipline, this is a 1903 Springfield, bolt operated, fires one round at a time, different times different disciplines! Third point, the finger off the trigger is a "civilian" principle, not a battlefield technique. The "safety" for a FULLY trained Marine rifleman(Vietnam) is one's brain. This principle is in full operation among most US and foreign SpecOps personnel today.

The picture on the coin shows the lead soldier's approach to the barrier, period. His "assignment" (orders) was to throw himself on the barrier, give protective enfilade fire if able and become a human bridge over the wire. Literally he was walked on by those following. Most likely, he was already dead by this time, mowed down by enemy machine gun fire, his body becoming a bridge. You braniacs don't really have a clue, think about that next time you"thank a vet!"

I agree with these statements. Context is everything.

Crazyb0, is laying down and I am picking it up.

With Jbuck and that Crazy guy. Failed nitpicking.

Whether you agree or not, I was certainly not nitpicking. I noticed immediately and was certainly not looking to criticize.

Nitpicking: looking for small or unimportant errors or faults, especially in order to criticize unnecessarily.