Fort Moultrie America The Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Coin Now Available
The United States Mint Introduces the Fifth Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin In the 2016 America The Beautiful Series.
The final coin in the 2016 America The Beautiful from the United States Mint, the Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument) will be released on November 17 and is now available to order from BGASC.com for shipping on November 29.
Fort Moultrie, situated on Sullivan’s Island, in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina was built in 1798, but destroyed in a hurricane in 1804 and rebuilt in 1809. Prior to 1798, however, an incomplete fort stood on the current site and came under attack from British Naval Forces in 1776. The commanding colonel, William Moultrie of the U.S. continental forces was able to withstand the British attack in part because the incomplete fort was built with local soft Palmetto logs that rather than shattering when struck, repelled cannon ball fire!
In recognition of Colonel Moultrie’s victory, the fort was named after him.
As many as four forts stood around Sullivan Island at the time of the U.S. Civil War in the 1860’s, including, Fort Sumter which was under construction at the start of the Civil War. Fort Sumter was also named after a U.S. Revolutionary War hero General Thomas Sumter.
The Civil War began when the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and cut off supplies to the fort, causing the Union forces to surrender. Union forces bombarded Fort Sumter in 1863 but failed to capture the fort. Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter remained in Confederate possession until February 1865 just prior to the end of the war. Both forts and experienced substantial damage during the Civil War and were rebuilt in the 1870’s. Fort Sumter National Monument which includes, Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie, became a U.S. National site in 1948.
The much anticipated Fort Moultrie, or Fort Sumter National Monument silver bullion five ounce silver coins are now available for order from BGASC.com. Demand for 2016 America the Beautiful (ATB) coins have been high all year. Sales of five ounce ATB coins through mid November are the second highest in the coins history.
The Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument) silver bullion coin is the fifth in a series of five 2016 America The Beautiful (ATB) quarters. As part of the ATB quarter program, the U.S. Mint also simultaneously produces five ounce silver coins with the same design as the ATB quarters.
On the Back of the Coin
The Fort Moultrie coin features a depiction of U.S. Revolutionary War hero Sergeant William Jasper carrying the South Carolina flag after its flagstaff was destroyed during the British Naval attack on Fort Moultrie in 1776.
The words “E Pluribus Unum” and “South Carolina” and “Fort Moultrie ” are emblazoned on the coin. The coin’s reverse was designed by Richard Scott and sculpted by Joseph Menna.
On the Front of the Coin
The ATB silver bullion commemoratives look like giant quarters and even bear a face value of a “quarter dollar”, though the five ounces of silver contained in the coins makes them worth far more.
Sales of the U.S. Mint’s ‘other’ silver bullion coin, the America The Beautiful (ATB) coin are on the rise. ATB coins are produced in limited mintages, that have never exceeded 126,700. In contrast, the U.S. Mint has sold record amounts of one ounce American Silver Eagle coins from 2013-2015, selling over 133 million ounces. Sales of five ounce ATB coins from 2013 – 2015 were just 508,000 reflecting 2,540,000 ounces of silver sold.
Through mid November, sales of ATB coins are nearly 250,000 reflecting 1,250,000 ounces of silver, or the second highest number of coins and ounces of silver ever sold in since the ATB series was introduced in 2010.
About The America The Beautiful Coin Series
The America The Beautiful five ounce silver coins were authorized in 2008 under Public Law 110-456. The ATB coins are five ounces of .999 fine silver and are exact replicas of the designs of the America the Beautiful quarters ($.25) minted for general circulation. The ATB five ounce silver coins even have stamped on them “quarter dollar” on the obverse. ATB five ounce coins are the first five ounce silver coins ever produced by the U.S. Mint.
Each year since 2010, the U.S. Mint has produced five different designs of America the Beautiful coins. The reverse of the ATB coins features various depictions of U.S. National Parks or other national sites. The obverse of the ATB coins looks like a U.S. quarter featuring a portrait of George Washington. Indeed, the ATB series includes U.S. quarters intended for general circulation with face values of twenty five cents that are produced in the same design as their five ounce silver commemorative counterparts.
The ATB quarter program is a 12-year initiative that will honor 56 national parks and other national sites by 2020.
Limited Mintage
The Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument) coin follows the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Harpers Ferry, Cumberland Gap and Shawnee National Forest coins issued in 2016. Since 2010, the five ounce ATB silver coins have seen very limited mintages. Mintages have ranged from a low of 20,000 to a high of 126,000. The Shawnee National Forest coin sold 105,000 and the Cumberland Gap coin sold 75,000, the Harpers Ferry coin sold 36,100 and the Theodore Roosevelt National Park has sold about 33,000 through mid November.
Last year the U.S. Mint produced just 212,000 ATB coins from the five different designs. In contrast, the U.S. Mint produced 47 million one ounce American Silver Eagle coins in 2015.
Because of their limited mintages, the ATB silver commemoratives often sell out quickly and in later years sell for higher premiums over the value of their silver bullion content.
Later this year, the U.S. Mint will release one more ATB designs: The Fort Moultrie at Fort Sumter National Monument.
The First Four Coins of the America The Beautiful Series
What’s Coming In 2017?
The U.S. Mint plans to release five new America The Beautiful quarters in 2017, including Effigy Mounds National Monument (IA), Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (DC),Ozark National Scenic Riverways (MO), Ellis Island (Statue of Liberty National Monument)(NJ) and George Rogers Clark National Historical Park (IN).
This article by BGASC is not, and should not be regarded as, investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular course of action.