Strong America The Beautiful Coin Sales Through Mid-October
Sales of The United States Mint’s Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins on Pace For Best Year Since 2011.
Sales of the U.S. Mint’s ‘other’ silver bullion coin, the American The Beautiful (ATB) coin have surpassed all sales totals since 2011. After the release of four of the five scheduled coins for 2016, sales of ATB coins are at 248,500, more than all prior year sales other than 2011’s sales.
The fourth of five scheduled ATB coins this year, the Theodore Roosevelt National Park coin, has already added sold over 30,000 since its release last month. The upcoming release of the Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument) ATB coin scheduled for release in mid-November is expected to generate substantial collector and investor interest and drive sales higher.
The U.S. Mint sold record amounts of one ounce American Silver Eagle coins from 2013-2015, selling over 133 million ounces. In contrast, sales of five ounce ATB coins from 2013 – 2015 were just 508,000 reflecting 2,540,000 ounces of silver sold.
Through mid-October, however, sales of ATB coins are 248,600 reflecting 1,243,000 ounces of silver, or more than all other years’ entire mintages save 2011’s.
While ATB sales have rebounded sharply this year, the total amount of silver used in their production this year (1,243,00 ounces) is about 27 times less than the amount of silver used to mint silver eagles so far this year through mid-October (33,500,500 ounces)!
The low mintages of the ATB coins makes them attractive to collectors, as many ATB coins often sell for substantial premiums in the after market.
Perhaps, the renewed interest in the ATB silver coin series has been piqued by the innovative 2016 designs. So far this year, the U.S. Mint has released four coins with the following designs: Shawnee National Forest, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The highly anticipated Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument) ATB coin will be released later this year.
Sales of ATB coins are issued in mintages authorized by the U.S. Treasury. Historically, other than in 2011 when a few coins had mintages over 100,000, most ATB coins have been issued in mintages ranging from 20,000-50,000. Earlier this year, the first ATB coin of the five scheduled ATB coins, the Shawnee National Forest Coin, sold 105,000, making it the third best selling ATB in the coin’s history and the only coin outside of the 2011 mintages to sell over 100,000.
The Cumberland Gap Historical Park coin sold 75,000 and the Harper’s Ferry coin sold 36,500. Through mid-October, 32,100 Theodore Roosevelt National Park coins have been sold.
The most recent coin in the ATB series is Theodore Roosevelt National Park coin. The reverse of the coin depicts Theodore Roosevelt on horseback pausing to survey his North Dakota surrounding near the Little Missouri River. To date the Theodore Roosevelt National Park coin has sold 32,100.
What’s Coming?
The final coin in the 2016 ATB series is the Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument) that is scheduled for launch in mid November. Fort Moultrie situated on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina was built in 1798, but destroyed in a hurricane in 1804 and rebuilt in 1809. Fort Moultrie changed hands during the US Civil War and experienced substantial damage. The fort was rebuilt in the 1870’s
More about the American The Beautiful Silver Coin Series
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 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.
The ATB quarter program is a 12-year initiative that will honor 56 national parks and other national sites by 2020.
This article by BGASC is not, and should not be regarded as, investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular course of action.