The first of five 2019-dated strikes to be released by the United States Mint as part of its America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™ series will be the 2019 Lowell America the Beautiful Silver Uncirculated Coin. A design on the reverse of the coin will be emblematic of the Lowell National Historical Park found in the state of Massachusetts.
Like other coins of this America the Beautiful Silver Uncirculated Coin series, the Lowell Silver Coin will be struck from five ounces of .999 fine silver. It will also feature the extremely larger diameter of three inches.
These specifications are not unique to this silver uncirculated series, however, as the US Mint also uses those same specifications for the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins™ Program. This is because the uncirculated series is struck by the US Mint as the numismatic versions of the bullion coins.
Authorization to create the uncirculated coins was given to the Secretary of the Treasury, who oversees the Mint, in 31 U.S.C. §5111(a) (3) to "prepare and distribute numismatic items." In contrast, the bullion coins were authorized directly by Congress as part of the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008.
This same act also authorized a series of circulating quarter dollars. In fact, the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program (which it is known as) actually serve as the design basis for all America the Beautiful related coins.
Accordingly, the obverse of this Lowell Silver Uncirculated Coin as well as all other America the Beautiful coins shows a portrait of George Washington, the first President of the United States. The portrait was originally designed by John Flanagan for use on the 1932 circulating quarter dollar and has been in use on the quarters ever since, with minor variation.
The reverse of this coin will contain the design emblematic of Lowell National Historical Park. Final design information of the reverse should be unveiled by the US Mint in late 2018.
Lowell National Historical Park of Massachusetts
Lowell National Historical Park is located in the city of Lowell, Massachusetts. It was officially established on June 5, 1978.
The park was created to acknowledge the important contributions of Lowell to the Industrial Revolution of the United States and to preserve some of the remaining structures from that period. In the early to mid 1800’s, Lowell was developed as a manufacturing center which, at its peak, was the largest in the United States.
Lowell is most known for its textile manufacturing. Unfortunately, by the mid-1900’s, overseas competition rendered the facilities in Lowell obsolete.
The National Park Service uses this paragraph to describe Lowell National Historical Park:
"All was expectancy. Changes were coming…nobody could guess what. – Lucy Lacombe"
"Discover the continuing revolution. Lowell’s water-powered textile mills catapulted the nation – including immigrant families and early female factory workers – into an uncertain new industrial era. Nearly 200 years later, the changes that began here still reverberate in our shifting global economy. Explore Lowell, a living monument to the dynamic human story of the Industrial Revolution."