The 2016 Fort Moultrie America the Beautiful Silver Uncirculated Coin will appear from the United States Mint as the last of five 2016-dated releases of the America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™ series. Shown on the reverse of the coin will be a design emblematic of Fort Moultrie, part of Fort Sumter National Monument in South Carolina.
This same coin also marks the thirty-fifth in the series overall which features reverse designs emblematic of different sites of national interest from throughout the United States, the District of Columbia and the five US territories. Upon completion, a total of fifty-six different sites will have been honored in the program with one chosen from each state, the District of Columbia and the five territories.
Coins of the program made their debut with five 2010-dated releases. Five more coins are issued annually in the series with the final strike scheduled for 2021.
This release schedule is the same as for the related America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins™ Program. In fact, these silver uncirculated coins are offered by the United States Mint as the numismatic versions of the bullion coins and also feature the same basic obverse and reverse imagery.
The designs of the coins are also featured on a third US Mint series – the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. It is the quarter dollar series which serves as the basis for the designs of all three programs.
Accordingly, the obverse of each America the Beautiful coin contains the same portrait of George Washington, the first President of the United States. This image of Washington was originally designed by John Flanagan and first seen on the 1932 circulating quarter dollar. It has been featured, with minor variations, on quarters ever since.
Shown on the reverse of each coin is the design emblematic of the selected site of national interest. For this coin, the design honors Fort Moultrie, park of Fort Sumter National Monument in South Carolina.
Final design details for the coin should be released by the United States Mint sometime in late 2015. Design candidates for the coin should be offered earlier that year for review and comment.
Like other coins of the series, each Fort Moultrie Silver Uncirculated Coin will be struck from five ounces of .999 fine silver. It will also feature the extremely large diameter of three inches.
Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument) in South Carolina
Fort Moultrie is part of the larger Fort Sumter National Monument located in the state of South Carolina. The fort was turned over by the Department of Defense in 1960 to the National Park Service to be operated as part of Fort Sumter National Monument which was authorized on April 28, 1948.
Fort Moultrie was built during the infant days of the nation as a defense for Charleston, South Carolina. It was called upon to do just that during the American Revolutionary War and withstood a nine-hour bombardment from British naval forces.
Its strategic location was again of importance during the American Civil War. In fact, Union forces from Fort Moultrie were the last to surrender after Confederate forces started bombarding area strongholds in April 1861. This signaled the start of the Civil War.