America the Beautiful 5 oz Silver Uncirculated Coins

The America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins™ are considered collector grade versions of the US Mint’s America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins® Program. Like those bullion coins, each of the silver uncirculated coins are struck from five ounces of .999 fine silver to a diameter of three inches.

The obverse (heads side) of America the Beautiful Silver Coins feature the familiar George Washington portrait – the same image seen on the smaller circulating quarter dollars since 1932.

However, there are several differences between the bullion and the uncirculated series, first of which is their intended market. The bullion coin program was created under Public Law 110-456 with investors in mind as a means for them to add small amounts of the precious metal to their portfolios at near market prices. This differs from these uncirculated coins created for numismatic purposes which were authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury under the power granted the office in 31 U.S.C. §5111(a) (3).

Also, the bullion coins are struck to bullion quality and are initially sold through the Mint’s network of authorized purchasers. In comparison, the America the Beautiful Five Ounce Uncirculated Coins are initially sold directly to the public by the US Mint.

Finally, while the designs are almost exactly similar on both series (and are also featured on the associated America the Beautiful Quarters® Program), the bullion coins contain no mintmark, as is typical for bullion strikes of the Mint. The associated silver uncirculated coins contain a "P" mintmark indicating they were struck at the US Mint’s facility in Philadelphia.

Owing to initial production difficulties, the inaugural year strikes for the series (the 2010 Five Ounce Uncirculated Coins) were not actually released until 2011. Those release dates, along with known dates for the other years, such as the 2013 America the Beautiful Uncirculated Coins, are shown below:

Releases Dates and Sites for America the Beautiful Silver Coins

Obverse and reverse designs for all these silver coins will be exact duplicates of those found on the circulating America the Beautiful Quarters® Program, although they will feature enhanced details. Both series of coins were authorized by the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008 and honor select sites of national interest from around the United States. One site was selected from each state, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories for a total of fifty-six locations.

A portrait of George Washington, as designed by John Flanagan, is found on the obverse of all the coins. This same portrait of the first President of the United States has been featured on the quarter dollar since 1932. It was slightly modified in 1999 for the release of the State Quarters Program, but has been returned to its original form for the debut of these strikes. Reverse designs will be emblematic of the honored site.

Since both the obverse and reverse of the silver bullion coins are duplicates of the quarter dollars, the Mint was initially required to edge incuse the weight and fineness of the strikes on the bullion pieces. That initial requirement has since been changed, but like the diameter, the Mint has opted to remain with the original specifications.

A total of five America the Beautiful 5 oz Silver Bullion Coins will be released annually until the program is completed in 2021. The order in which the coins are released is dictated by the order in which the honored site came under the direct control of the federal government.