Olympic Silver Bullion Coins

The 2011 Olympic Silver Bullion Coin is the third of five coins to appear in 2011 as part of the United States Mint’s America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins® Program. The coin, which honors Olympic National Park in the state of Washington, also marks the eighth in the series which began in 2010. There will be five new releases in the program annually until 2021.

2011 Olympic America the Beautiful Coin (images shown above are for the related quarter which features the same designs as the silver bullion coins)

The 2011 coin will feature the same obverse and reverse designs as the Olympic America the Beautiful Quarter which is also the same design used on an associated Olympic Silver Uncirculated Coin. However, the bullion and the uncirculated coin will be much larger than the quarter as they are struck to a diameter of three inches.

Orders for the Olympic Bullion Coin were accepted by the US Mint beginning on Monday, May 23. According to the Mint, the strikes would have an initial mintage cap of 126,700.

2011 Olympic Silver Coin Values

The Olympic Silver Bullion Coins are extremely unique because they will be composed of five ounces of .999 fine silver, making coins of the series the largest produced by the U.S. Mint. However, as a bullion product, they will not be sold directly to the public by the Mint.

Instead, a network of authorized purchasers buys and then resells them to the public for a small premium above the current spot price of the silver. This system ensures that the silver bullion coins are available in the most efficient manner possible, and enables investors quick and easy access to them for their portfolios.

As an investment device, all America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins have an intrinsic melt value equal to five ounces of silver. Thus, if silver is trading at $15 an ounce, each will at least have a melt value of $75 — five ounces times $15 an ounce equals $75.

Some of the strikes may also be desirable to collectors, giving them a numismatic value which can far exceed melt values. This especially applies to those which have been slabbed by grading service and designated as high grades.

The coins sales figures page offers the most recent information on the number of coins sold in the series as they are available. That same page gives collectors and investors an idea of their melt values based on the current spot price of silver.

Olympic Silver Bullion Coin Information

Each obverse on the Olympic Silver Bullion Coins will feature a portrait of George Washington. The image of the first President of the United States can be found on the obverse of all of the America the Beautiful Coins, including the circulating quarters. It was designed by John Flanagan and has been in use on the quarter dollars in one fashion or another since 1932.

An emblematic design of Washington’s Olympic National Park is featured on the reverse side of these coins. The design includes a Roosevelt Elk as it steps into the Hoh River with Mount Olympus shown in the distance. The reverse was designed by Barbara Fox and sculpted by Charles Vickers

The park was originally established as a national monument in 1909 but re-designated a national park on June 29, 1938. It consists of over 900,000 acres including sections of the Pacific coastline, the Olympic Mountains and a temperate rainforest.

Well over 2 million people visit the national park annually to take in the many recreational opportunities offered there including many back-country activities. In fact, in 1988 Congress dictated 95% of the park as the Olympic Wilderness.

Current law requires an edge inscription on each of the coins to signify its weight and fineness.

Olympic Silver Coin Specifications