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America the Beautiful silver bullion coins facts for kids

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America the Beautiful
silver bullion coins
United States
Value 0.25 US dollar
Mass 155.5 g (5.00 troy oz)
Diameter 76.2 mm (3 in)
Thickness 3.25 mm (0.128 in)
Edge Plain with incuse inscriptions
Composition 99.9% Ag
Years of minting 2010–present
Obverse
Design George Washington
Designer John Flanagan (1932 version) from a 1786 bust by Houdon / William Cousins (modification to Flanagan's design)
Design date 2010
Reverse
Design Various; Five designs per year (one in 2021)
Designer Various

The America the Beautiful silver bullion coins are special silver coins made by the United States Mint. These coins are much larger than a regular quarter. They contain five troy ounces of pure silver. This makes them the biggest silver coins ever made by the U.S. Mint!

Even though they are huge, their official value is only a quarter dollar. Their design looks exactly like the smaller America the Beautiful Quarters. These silver coins have been made since 2010. They will continue to be made until at least 2021. You can buy them during the year their matching quarter is released.

What Do These Silver Coins Look Like?

5oz America the Beautiful Bullion (comparison)
A normal-sized quarter (left) sitting next to a bullion coin in a plastic holder (right)

All coins in this series have the same front side, called the obverse. It shows a picture of George Washington. This picture is a special version of the one used on the 1932 Washington quarter.

The back side of the coin, called the reverse, changes. Each year, there are five different designs. In 2021, there is only one new design. Each design shows a different national park or important national site. These sites come from each U.S. state, the federal district (Washington, D.C.), and U.S. territories.

Unlike a normal quarter, which has ridges on its edge, these silver coins have a smooth edge. On this smooth edge, you can read the coin's details: ".999 FINE SILVER 5.0 OUNCE." This tells you it's 99.9% pure silver and weighs 5 ounces.

How Are These Coins Different?

There are two main types of these coins: "uncirculated" and "bullion" versions. They have a few key differences:

  • Packaging: Uncirculated coins come with a special paper from the Mint. They are placed in a clear plastic case and then in a fancy box. Bullion coins are shipped in tubes of 10 coins. These tubes are sent in big "monster boxes" with ten tubes each.
  • Finish: After they are made, uncirculated coins are treated to have a dull, matte look. Bullion coins have a shinier surface.
  • Mint Mark: Uncirculated coins have a small "P" mark under the words "In God We Trust." This "P" means they were made at the Philadelphia Mint. Bullion coins do not have this mint mark.

How Were These Coins Created?

The idea for these coins came from a law passed in 2008. It was called the "America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act." This law allowed the U.S. Mint to create both the smaller quarters and these larger silver coins.

Making the Coins

A brand new machine was set up at the Philadelphia Mint on March 1, 2010. This machine came all the way from Germany. It was specifically for making the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins. This powerful machine can press coins with a force of up to 1,000 tons. It can make over a million coins every year! The blank silver pieces for these coins are supplied by a company called Sunshine Minting.

Coins Released So Far

Here is a list of the America the Beautiful silver bullion coins that have been released:

Year No. State/territory Site US Mint Item# Release Date Bullion Mintage Uncirculated Mintage
2010 1 Arkansas Hot Springs National Park NP1 4/19/2010 33,000 27,000
2 Wyoming Yellowstone National Park NP2 6/1/2010 33,000 27,000
3 California Yosemite National Park NP3 7/26/2010 33,000 27,000
4 Arizona Grand Canyon National Park NP4 9/20/2010 33,000 26,019
5 Oregon Mount Hood National Forest NP5 11/15/2010 33,000 26,928
2011 6 Pennsylvania Gettysburg National Military Park NP6 1/24/2011 126,700 24,625
7 Montana Glacier National Park NP7 4/4/2011 126,700 20,856
8 Washington Olympic National Park NP8 6/13/2011 104,900 18,398
9 Mississippi Vicksburg National Military Park NP9 8/29/2011 58,100 18,594
10 Oklahoma Chickasaw National Recreation Area NP10 11/14/2011 48,700 16,827
2012 11 Puerto Rico El Yunque National Forest NQ0 1/23/2012 24,000 17,314
12 New Mexico Chaco Culture National Historical Park NQ1 4/2/2012 24,400 17,146
13 Maine Acadia National Park NQ2 6/11/2012 25,400 14,978
14 Hawai'i Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park NQ3 8/27/2012 20,000 14,863
15 Alaska Denali National Park NQ4 11/5/2012 20,000 15,225
2013 16 New Hampshire White Mountain National Forest NQ5 1/28/2013 35,000 20,530
17 Ohio Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial NQ6 4/1/2013 30,000 17,707
18 Nevada Great Basin National Park NQ7 6/10/2013 30,000 17,792
19 Maryland Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine NQ8 8/27/2013 30,000 19,802
20 South Dakota Mount Rushmore National Memorial NQ9 11/4/2013 35,000 23,547
2014 21 Tennessee Great Smoky Mountains National Park NR1 1/27/2014 33,000 24,710
22 Virginia Shenandoah National Park NR2 3/31/2014 25,000 28,451
23 Utah Arches National Park NR3 6/9/2014 22,000 28,434
24 Colorado Great Sand Dunes National Park NR4 8/25/2014 22,000 24,103
25 Florida Everglades National Park NR5 11/3/2014 34,000 22,732
2015 26 Nebraska Homestead National Monument of America SN1 2/9/2015 35,000 21,286
27 Louisiana Kisatchie National Forest SN2 4/13/2015 42,000 19,449
28 North Carolina Blue Ridge Parkway SN3 6/22/2015 45,000 17,461
29 Delaware Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge SN4 9/14/2015 45,000 17,309
30 New York Saratoga National Historical Park SN5 11/16/2015 45,000 17,563
2016 31 Illinois Shawnee National Forest 16AJ 2/1/2016 105,000 18,781
32 Kentucky Cumberland Gap National Historical Park 16AK 4/4/2016 75,000 18,713
33 West Virginia Harpers Ferry National Historical Park 16AL 6/6/2016 55,300 18,896
34 North Dakota Theodore Roosevelt National Park 16AM 8/29/2016 40,000 18,917
35 South Carolina Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument) 16AN 11/14/2016 35,000 17,882
2017 36 Iowa Effigy Mounds National Monument 17AJ 2/6/2017 35,000 17,251
37 District of Columbia Frederick Douglass National Historic Site 17AK 4/3/2017 20,000 17,678
38 Missouri Ozark National Scenic Riverways 17AL 6/5/2017 20,000 17,694
39 New Jersey Ellis Island (Statue of Liberty National Monument) 17AM 8/28/2017 40,000 17,670+
40 Indiana George Rogers Clark National Historical Park 17AN 11/13/2017 35,000 14,731
2018 41 Michigan Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore 18AJ 02/19/2018 30,000 17,773
42 Wisconsin Apostle Islands National Lakeshore 18AK 04/13/2018 30,000 16,802
43 Minnesota Voyageurs National Park 18AL 06/14/2018 30,000 16,839
44 Georgia Cumberland Island National Seashore 18AM 09/12/2018 52,500 16,376
45 Rhode Island Block Island National Wildlife Refuge 18AN 11/26/2018 80,000 15,912
2019 46 Massachusetts Lowell National Historical Park 19AJ 02/07/2019 80,000 16,645
47 Northern Mariana Island American Memorial Park 19AK 04/04/2019 80,000 16,287
48 Guam War in the Pacific National Historical Park 19AL 06/06/2019 72,500 16,277
49 Texas San Antonio Missions National Historical Park 19AM 08/29/2019 55,200 16,211
50 Idaho Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness 19AN 11/14/2019 25,000 16,410
2020 51 American Samoa National Park of American Samoa 20AJ 02/06/2020 45,000 15,781
52 Connecticut Weir Farm National Historic Site 20AK 05/18/2020 45,000 14,662+
53 U.S. Virgin Islands Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve 20AL 09/18/2020 45,000 13,567
54 Vermont Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park 20AM 11/23/2020 45,000 12,440+
55 Kansas Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve 20AN TBA 45,000 13,216+
2021 56 Alabama Tuskegee Airman National Historic Site TBA TBA TBA
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