America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins

September 10, 2009 by · 3 Comments 

Park scene with quarter superimposedAmerica the Beautiful Quarters took center stage Wednesday when the US Mint announced the new program to an awaiting public. With a ton of fanfare about the list of national parks and sites the new quarters will feature, it was easy to miss the Mint’s same-day introduction of the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins.

But before reviewing these silver coins, an understanding of the new quarter series is important.

America the Beautiful Quarters will feature up to five new designs each year beginning in 2010 and lasting to 2021. The eleven year series will result in 56 circulating quarter-dollar coins with reverse designs emblematic of a selected site in each state, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories — Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.

"These new quarters will honor some of our most revered, treasured and beautiful national sites — majestic and historic places located throughout the United States and its territories that truly make us ‘America the Beautiful,’" said United States Mint Director Ed Moy.

America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act, which authorized the new series, also mandates that the US Mint strike "exact" silver bullion "duplicates" of each quarter, and thus was born the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin Program.

The American the Beautiful silver coins specifications are not standard by any stretch of the imagination. Each will:

  • have a diameter of 3.0 inches;
  • weigh 5.0 ounces;
  • contain .999 fine silver;
  • have incused into the edge the fineness and weight of the bullion coin;
  • bear an inscription of the denomination of such coin, which shall be ‘quarter dollar’; and
  • not be minted or issued by the United States Mint as so-called ‘fractional’ bullion coins or in any size other than the size described in paragraph

Their diameters will be twice the size of early US silver dollars, like the Morgans, and nearly double that of today’s American Eagle Silver, which is 1.598 inches in diameter and includes one ounce of silver.

For silver coin collectors and investors, this new program looks to have both its pros and cons. The thought of a super-sized US coin can certainly be daunting. Some seasoned numismatists are less than thrilled with the new program. Numismatic News Editor Dave Harper summed up the feeling of many coin collectors in an article entitled New U.S. bullion coins; who cares?

"I think the whole thing makes a joke of American coinage, but then the solons in Congress thought otherwise and tucked the provision into the quarter bill. Will bullion investors flock to it? Why would they do so? The American Eagle is so much more widely traded and recognizable."

On the flip side, the series may open up new avenues for investors and bring the hobby news collector. How will the younger generation feel toward the bullion coins? That is key. Only time will tell.

The silver coins will follow each quarter release. Here is a list and release dates compliments of America the Beautiful Quarters Release Schedule. The National Site Registry list is also available from the US Mint at http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/NSQuartersProgram/?action=siteRegister.

America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins Release Schedule

Year Location National Park or
National Site
2010 Arkansas Hot Springs National Park
Wyoming Yellowstone National Park
California Yosemite National Park
Arizona Grand Canyon National Park
Oregon Mt. Hood National Forest
2011 Pennsylvania Gettysburg National Military Park
Montana Glacier National Park
Washington Olympic National Park
Mississippi Vicksburg National Military Park
Oklahoma Chickasaw National Recreation Area
2012 Puerto Rico El Yunque National Forest
New Mexico Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Maine Acadia National Park
Hawaii Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
Alaska Denali National Park
2013 New Hampshire White Mountain National Forest
Ohio Perryâs Victory and International Peace Memorial
Nevada Great Basin National Park
Maryland Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
South Dakota Mount Rushmore National Memorial
2014 Tennessee Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Virginia Shenandoah National Park
Utah Arches National Park
Colorado Great Sand Dunes National Park
Florida Everglades National Park
2015 Nebraska Homestead National Monument of America
Louisiana Kisatchie National Forest
North Carolina Blue Ridge Parkway
Delaware Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge
New York Saratoga National Historical Park
2016 Illinois Shawnee National Forest
Kentucky Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
West Virginia Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
North Dakota Theodore Roosevelt National Park
South Carolina Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument)
2017 Iowa Effigy Mounds National Monument
District of Columbia Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
Missouri Ozark National Scenic Riverways
New Jersey Ellis Island National Monument (Statue of Liberty)
Indiana George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
2018 Michigan Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Wisconsin Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Minnesota Voyageurs National Park
Georgia Cumberland Island National Seashore
Rhode Island Block Island National Wildlife Refuge
2019 Massachusetts Lowell National Historical Park
Northern Mariana Islands American Memorial Park
Guam War in the Pacific National Historical Park
Texas San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
Idaho Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness
2020 American Samoa National Park of American Samoa
Connecticut Weir Farm National Historic Site
U.S. Virgin Islands Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve
Vermont Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
Kansas Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
2021 Alabama Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

 

Comments

3 Responses to “America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins”
  1. john salesky says:

    When will the 5 ounce silver bullion “America the Beautiful” quarters be released and how will they be sold? Sleve’s of how many, box of 100 etc.? Where can they be purchased? Thank You. John

  2. Brett says:

    Hello…
    Wonder where the silver went last year for our Proof Silver Eagle Program? The five ounce A.T.B. Bullion act was similiar to rolling the dice on a crap table. Why not continue with a cherrished item such as the Proof American Eagle ?? Why gamble with a sure thing ??
    Thank you, Brett from Oregon.

  3. Michael says:

    From what I have seen, the authorized distributors are holding onto the coins and not responding to inquiries — waiting on prices to rise or figuring out how to charge the highest price while still remaining in compliance with the new guidelines? I thought distributors were supposed to distribute. As usual with anything related to the Mint, it is the citizens that pay through the nose.

    I saw the Home Shopping Network offering them for $5,000 a set yesterday evening (January 5th). They said they had 210 sets. This system is working out great for the middle men.

    I called the Mint and was told to call (202) 354-7500 if I had a complaint. I was told this was the office in charge of bullion coins. There was a recording, but you can leave a message.

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