US Mint to Strike Up To 500,000 of the 2010 America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins

The United States Mint has indicated that it will strike up to 500,000 of the 2010 America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins.

This comes as welcome news to collectors who have been anxiously waiting for any information on the new series of bullion coins.  Up to this point, the Mint has only alluded to several issues it had in striking the coins, most notable of which is the fact that the authorizing legislation requires the bullion coins fineness and weight to be edge-incused on each strike.

Preliminary testing resulted in a "crumpling effect" as the process of incusing the edge proved too much for the coins.  Mint Director Ed Moy described some of the related issues earlier this year:

"… the law was very specific, they said it had to be a certain diameter and it had to be 5 ounces. Well, there isn’t a 5 ounce blank out there, so we had to get this custom made, " explained Mint Director Moy on the issues of the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins.

"Then, because it was 3 inches in diameter, well we’ve got a 5 ounce piece of silver and we stretch it out to a 3 inch diameter, it’s paper thin. And then congress mandated that we had to edge letter it. So when you edge letter a paper thin coin, you get crumples."

Moy continued that the Mint tried to get Congress to change the requirements in some fashion, but no action was ever taken leaving the Mint to overcome the challenges.  It apparently did with U.S. Mint spokesman Michael White stating that the develpment stage has been completed and that the Mint was ready to place an order for the special blanks from its supplier Sunshine Minting, Inc. in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

With that order, the Mint will also go to the Treasury Secretary for approval on the final mintage figures which is anticipated to be in the 500,000 range as stated earlier. Once it receives the blanks, the Mint will start striking the new coins and will set a release date.

For those unfamiliar with these new strikes, the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins are to be issued in association with the new America the Beautiful Quarters Program.  In fact, the bullion coins are to feature identical imagery as to what is found on the circulating quarters.

Consequently, five new bullion coins are due yet this year along with the five new quarters.  Three of the quarters have already been released, the Hot Springs National Park Quarter, the Yellowstone National Park Quarter and the Yosemite National Park Quarter.  The two quarters yet to be seen are the Grand Canyon National Park Quarter and the Mount Hood National Forest Quarter, both of which will find their way into circulation over the next few months.

Collectors will note that the bullion coins will not be available directly from the Mint.  For all of its bullion products, the Mint uses a network of authorized purchasers which receive the bullion coins in bulk from the Mint and then resells them in smaller quantities for a small premium above the spot price of the precious metal contained within them.

Related World Mint Coins articles:

• America the Beautiful 5 oz Silver Bullion Coins
• America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set Now Available
• US Mint Unveils Final Designs for 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters

Posted by World Mint Coins Staff on Aug 18 2010. Filed under America the Beautiful Quarter, Silver Coins, United States Coins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry