Second Coin in America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program Available in Bags and Rolls

The United States Mint will begin accepting orders for products featuring the Yellowstone National Park quarter beginning at noon Eastern Time (ET) on June 1, 2010. Available options include a two-roll set priced at $32.95 and 100-coin bags priced at $35.95 each. The coins in the bags and rolls were struck on the main production floors of the United States Mint facilities at Denver and Philadelphia for use in general circulation.

The two-roll set includes one roll each of 40 coins-one each bearing the “P” and “D” mint marks-wrapped in distinctive packaging displaying the name “Yellowstone,” abbreviation “WY” for Wyoming, mint of origin, and “$10,” the value of its contents. Each canvas bag has a tag with “Yellowstone,” the “P” or “D” mint mark, “WY,” and “$25,” the value of its contents.

Orders will be accepted at http://www.usmint.gov/catalog, or at 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). Hearing- and speech-impaired customers may order by calling 1-888-321 MINT (6468). A fee of $4.95 will be added to all domestic orders to cover shipping and handling costs.

The Yellowstone National Park quarter is the second release in the United States Mint America the Beautiful QuartersTM Program, the United States Mint’s new multi-year initiative to honor 56 national parks and national sites in each state, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories.

The coin’s reverse (tails side) design features the Old Faithful geyser with a mature bull bison in the foreground. Inscriptions are YELLOWSTONE, WYOMING, 2010 and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The reverse was designed and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart.

The coin’s obverse (heads side) design features the 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan, which has been restored to bring out subtle details and the beauty of the original model. Inscriptions are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR. Each coin in the series will bear the same obverse design.

The United States Mint, created by Congress in 1792, is the Nation’s sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage. Its primary mission is to produce an adequate volume of circulating coinage for the Nation to conduct its trade and commerce. The United States Mint also produces proof, uncirculated and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; and silver, gold and platinum bullion coins. (more…)

The U.S. Mint has confirmed that it plans to release five-ounce .999 fine silver bullion coins later this year in accordance with the AMERICA’S BEAUTIFUL NATIONAL PARKS QUARTER DOLLAR COIN ACT OF 2008 . The coins will be the first five-ounce coins ever produced by the Mint.

The coins will bear the same designs as the new legal-tender quarters of the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. The first quarter in the program, honoring Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, was released into the banking system April 19, 2010. Four more quarters will be released this year, with five quarters being released annually through 2021, concluding with the final quarter in 2022. The new quarters will commemorate 56 national parks and sites.

The Mint’s America the Beautiful Program will be well received as will be the companion five-ounce silver bullion coins. The America the Beautiful Quarters Program follows on the heels the U.S. Mint’s hugely successful State Quarters Program, which only recently concluded. The five-ounce coins will be sold via the U.S. Mint’s distribution system that has made American Eagle gold bullion coins and American Eagle silver bullion coins the best-selling gold and silver bullion coins in the world.

The five-ounce silver bullion coins will be near exact replicas of the legal-tender quarter dollars, with the inscriptions on the silver bullion coins identical to those on the quarters, including the denomination “quarter dollar.” However, legal-tender quarters will have milled edges (Also called reeded edges in the coin industry.) The five-ounce coins will not have milled edges but will have their fineness (.999) and their weighs (five troy ounces) incused as edge lettering. The individual coins will be three inches in diameter.

The Mint has not given a release date for the five-ounce coins beyond “mid-year.” Nor has the Mint disclosed how the coins will be packaged. The Mint ships its one-ounce Gold Eagle coins and one-ounce Silver Eagle coins five hundred to a box, twenty-five tubes, twenty coins to a tube. This packaging method has worked extremely well, both for shipping and for protecting the coins against damage during shipment and while stored by investors. It is likely that the Mint will package the coins five or ten to a tube, five hundred ounces (100 coins) to a box, which would weigh right at forty-two pounds.

Finally, the Mint has given no hint as to the premium at which it will sell the new five-ounces silver coins. It is likely that the America the Beautiful silver bullion coins will carry smaller premiums than the premiums on 1-oz Silver Eagles.

This is the third article in the series.

• To view Part One – Click here
• To view Part Two – Click here
• To view Part Three – Click here

Granite Lady Closes and Reopens

Its replacement, the third United States Mint at San Francisco, began striking coins in 1937. This period was comparatively brief however. Following World War II, the mints at Philadelphia and Denver were greatly improved. The plan was to have all of the nation’s coinage produced at these two facilities. As a result, in March 1955, after the production of the 1955 Lincoln cents, all coinage production at the third San Francisco Mint ceased and the facility became an assay offi ce and a supplier of plainchants for the Denver Mint.

The “Granite Lady,” after its closure in 1937 and through the years of the Second World War and the 1950s, served as a storage facility and offi ce space for a number of governmental agencies. It was apparent that the future of this historic building would become a concern of the government. Many facilities, following their wartime uses, were being declared as “surplus.” In its July 1959 publication, CSNA’s “Calcoin News” reported that a February 18, 1958 meeting was held to discuss the future of the mint building. At this meeting some people believed the site should be developed for commercial interests while other argued for a museum. Still, no action was taken.

By 1968 it was decided that the Federal Government no longer needed this building and the decision regarding its future commenced. At the end of February, the General Services Administration (GSA) sent notices to other federal agencies announcing the agency would remove its 150 employees now occupying the building within the next 90 days. The “Granite Lady,” fi rst opened in 1874, now was vacant and deserted. Offi cials advised that unless some local, state or federal agency made a bid for the building, the property would be sold at public auction.

Will The “Granite Lady” Become A State College?

The San Francisco Chronicle reported in its June 27, 1969 edition that the 2nd San Francisco mint building was to be given to the San Francisco State College system for a downtown campus. To facilitate this plan, the property was transferred to the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The transfer was made offi cial on June 19, 1969. However, the State College wanted the site not the building and announced plans to demolish the old Mint building. (more…)