The seventh year of the US Mint’s America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin™ Program will be the 2016 America the Beautiful 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coins. Strikes in this series are each produced from five ounces of .999 fine silver to a diameter of three inches and feature reverse designs emblematic of sites of national interest from around the United States and its territories.
If those design specifications sound familiar, they might, as they are the same as used for the Mint’s circulating America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. In fact, these silver bullion coins take both their obverse and reverse designs from those quarter dollars.
Both the quarters and the silver bullion coins were also authorized by the same piece of legislation – Public Law 110-456 (America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008). This act requires five strikes to be minted annually in each program which debuted in 2010 and will see a total of fifty-six coins created per program by they time they are completed in 2021. One strike in each series will represent a site from each state as well as the District of Columbia and the five US Territories.
Also produced by the US Mint will be a third series of coins containing the same basic designs and specifications as these bullion strikes. However, these 5 Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins will be minted for collectors whereas the bullion strikes are intended for investors.
Information on each of the 2016 America the Beautiful 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coins is offered below with additional information available by following the provided links:
2016 Shawnee 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coins
Issued as the first 2016 strikes of the America the Beautiful 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coins Program will be the Shawnee Silver Coins. Shown on the reverse of these strikes will be a design emblematic of Shawnee National Forest found in the state of Illinois.
Shawnee National Forest was originally established in August of 1933 and today encompasses an area of approximately 265,616 acres. Making the forest somewhat unique is the fact that it was created mostly from exhausted farmland which was purchased by the federal government and replanted with trees to create the national forest.
2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coins
Shown on the reverse of the Cumberland Gap Silver Coins will be a design emblematic of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park located in the state of Kentucky. When issued, these strikes will mark the thirty-second in the program overall and the second released in 2016 as part of the series.
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park was originally created on June 11, 1940 and borders the state of Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky. It is found on a large break of the Appalachian Mountains which has served as a passage through the mountains for centuries.
2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coins
The third release of the US Mint’s America the Beautiful 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coins Program to appear in 2016 will be the Harpers Ferry Silver Coins. These specific strikes will honor Harpers Ferry National Historical Park of West Virginia with a reverse design emblematic of the location.
The area was originally established as a national monument in 1944 in an effort to acknowledge the importance of the location throughout history including the early days of westward expansion up to and through the American Civil War. It was redesignated a national historical park by Congress in 1963.
2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coins
The Theodore Roosevelt Silver Coins will appear in 2016 with a reverse design emblematic of Theodore Roosevelt National Park found in the state of North Dakota. When issued, the strikes will mark the thirty-fourth in the series which will include a total of fifty-six when completed in 2021.
This national park is named after Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth President of the United States, who operated a ranch in the area in the 1880’s. Today, the park is composed of 110 square miles in three different sections.
2016 Fort Moultrie 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coins
Issued as the last of five 2016-dated strikes in the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin Program will be the Fort Moultrie Silver Coins. These strikes will feature a reverse design emblematic of Fort Moultrie (part of Fort Sumter National Monument) located in the state of South Carolina.
Fort Moultrie was originally created during the American Revolutionary War to protect the port of Charleston, South Carolina. However, it also played an important role during the American Civil War.
A separate site dedicated to these strikes can be found by clicking on 5 oz bullion coins.
These America the Beautiful 5 oz Silver Bullion Coins will not be sold directly to the public by the US Mint. Instead, the Mint uses a network of authorized purchasers for all of its bullion strikes which obtains the coins in bulk, then resells them in smaller lots to local coin and precious metal dealers for a small premium above the current spot price of the silver contained within them.
