The quarter is the most used and most visible American coin in everyday change. And beginning in 2010, it will be duplicated in silver to a much larger scale for both investors and collectors in new coinage named America the Beautiful 5 oz Silver Bullion coins.

2010 is the inaugural year for the new 10-year quarter dollar series the United States Mint has named the America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program. These new commemoratives were authorized by America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, or Public Law 11-456, which also instructs the U.S. Mint to strike companion .999 fine silver coins that weigh 5 ounces and have an enormous 3 inch diameter.

To say they are big is an understatement. Circulating quarters come in at a mere 5.670 grams (0.2 ounces) and are less than an inch in diameter — 0.955 inches to be exact.

U.S. Mint 5 oz Silver Bullion Coins Program

Between 2010-2021, the Mint will produce 56 quarters at a rate of five per year that have different reverse designs. These quarters will honor National Parks and National Sites in each state, the District of Columbia and all five U.S. Territories — Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The bullion coins will be "exact duplicates of the quarter dollars issued" with the exception of the aforementioned size, their differing metallic composition and their edges. Standard quarters have 119 reeds on their edge. The silver coins will not be reeded, but instead flat with incused edge lettering featuring the coin’s fineness and weight.

The size of the coins are quite distinct, and a first for the Mint. Silver coins have historically included a single ounce of the precious metal and, obviously, were smaller. As a comparison, these new coins are nearly double the size of the American Eagle Silver which is 1.598 inches in diameter. They are twice that of early US coinage, like the Peace and Morgan silver dollars.

The size created issues for the Mint and resulted in later than planned releases for 2010.

"Well, there isn’t a 5 ounce blank out there, so we had to get this custom made," United States Mint Director Ed Moy said during a public coin forum in February 2010 as reported by parent CoinNews.net. "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."

Congressional lawmakers apparently did not run the numbers on how thin the coins would have to be based on their other criteria.

"Congress mandated that we had to edge letter it. So when you edge letter a paper thin coin, you get crumples. We’ve been technologically struggling to make this coin happen," Moy added.

The Mint had to order a new coining press from German firm of Gräbener Pressensysteme GmbH & Co. KG " to better handle the requirements of striking the new coins," according to NumismaticNews.net. The press is able to apply up to 1,000 tons of force on each five ounce silver coin blank.

As a side note, Mr. Moy did not exclude the possibility that numismatic versions of the coins would eventually be made, and sold directly by the Mint.

Sales and Distribution

The America the Beautiful bullion coins will be distributed exactly like the American Silver Eagles, which are the only other silver bullion coins issued by the Mint. The Mint does not sell these directly to the public. Instead, it works with a small number of authorized purchasers who in turn resell the coins to precious metal providers, investors, dealers and collectors.

Additionally, Public Law 110-456 specifies that the National Park Service (NPS) may purchase quantities of America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins (no fewer than 1,000 at a time) and may resell and repackage them as the Director of the NPS deems appropriate.

Expectations are that the coins will be released in late summer or early fall.