The America the Beautiful Silver Quarter Series (2010-2021) in Retrospect

By Louis Golino

Early in 2021, the America the Beautiful (ATB) series of quarters and 5-ounce silver versions of those quarters that began in 2010, will end with the release of the 56^th and final coin for the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.

The 5-ounce silver ATB coins were the first U.S. silver coins to be issued in their size, but they will likely not be the last ones, especially with some major current legislation calling for new silver quarters starting in 2022. From the beginning, 5 oz. ATBS have been issued in two versions, bullion coins sold to the U.S. Mint’s authorized distributors in tubes of 10 coins each and collector coins that have a “P” mintmark for Philadelphia and a special vapor-blasted finish.

America the Beautiful quarters gave silver stackers an alternative U.S. silver coin to the American Silver Eagle, where each release would have a unique reverse design, a factor that especially appealed to numismatic collectors who would eventually become the core buyers of both versions of these coins. Moreover, their 3-inch (76.2 millimeter) diameter was well suited to the finely detailed designs of these releases, and the production quality of the coins continued to increase over the decade in which they were made.

Each coin’s obverse carries the John Flanagan portrait of President George Washington used on the 1932 Washington quarter that was originally intended to commemorate the bicentennial of Washington’s birth.

The bullion pieces have highly mirrored surfaces in many cases giving them proof-like and deep mirror proof-like appearance, while the collector coins have a more matte finish (called Specimen Finish by the grading companies) that comes from a post-striking treatment using water vapor and fine ceramic media.

America the Beautiful Mintages

Since demand for 2010 coins seemed to exceed the number of coins the Mint was able to produce, mintage levels were ramped up for the 2011 coins to a series high of 126,700 for the Gettysburg and Glacier Park coins, but since then sales have been lower for both versions of these coins. For the bullion coins that has meant mintages in the range of 20,000-50,000 most years, while the collector coins that began with 26,000-27,000 each of the 2010 Specimen coins, is today half that level due to both silver prices and the premiums added to those coins by the U.S. Mint.

Looking Forward: 2022 Quarters and Beyond

The 2008 legislation that authorized the America the Beautiful coin series included a provision that would have allowed the Secretary of the Treasury to authorize both a second round of quarters and 5-ounce silver quarters depicting national parks, if he had chosen to do so, which he did not.

The legislation also specifies that in that case the reverse would change to an image of Washington crossing the Delaware River, and a design of that scene has been approved for use in 2021 after the final ATB coin for the Tuskegee Airmen Reserve designed by Chris Costello (who also created the forthcoming Mayflower 400^th anniversary silver and gold coins).

On September 23, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that if also approved by the Senate and signed into law by the President will result in a series of three different quarter and other denomination coin programs that would run from 2022 to 2030.

The first would run from 2022 to 2025 and would feature five quarters per year depicting prominent American women issued to commemorate the 19^th amendment that was ratified 100 years ago.

The second would be a one-year only program in 2026 for the 250^th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. in 1776 that would include not just quarters, but also half dollars and $1 coins with five different designs issued that year that are emblematic of the semiquincentennial. This program currently seems to have the widest support from collectors.

Finally, in 2027 quarters and half dollars again with five designs per year would be issued that feature designs about youth and Paralympic sports. In addition, bronze medals could be issued with these designs. The bill also authorizes the issuance of medals to be awarded during the 2028 Olympics that will be held in Los Angeles.

The legislation also allows the Treasury Secretary to authorize the minting of both 5-ounce silver coins in the same size and format as the ATB coins as well as fractional silver coins in sizes, weights and fineness that the Secretary decides are appropriate.

Sources

https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/america-the-beautiful-quarters

https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/united-states-mint-increases-prices-on-15-silver-products

https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/monday-morning-brief-for-sept-21-2020-next-year-s-quarters

https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/6184/text

https://coinweek.com/modern-coins/the-coin-analyst-the-10-greatest-u-s-mint-coins-of-the-decade-2010-2019/

https://www.coinworld.com/voices/gerald-tebben/america_the_beautifu.html

.S. Yeoman, A Guide Book of United States Coins Mega Red 5th Edition (Whitman, 2019)