Scheduled to be the first (and possibly only) coin of 2021 to be part of the US Mint’s America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin™ Program will be the 2021 Tuskegee Airmen America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin. The coin also finishes out the fifty-six original issues due to be created in the program which debuted in 2010.
These bullion coins were created as part of the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008 along with a series of circulating quarters. A stipulation of the act states that at the Treasury Secretary’s discretion, the original 11-year 56-coin program can be extended for another complete run as long as the Secretary makes that determination before the end of the first nine years of the program. If the series is continued, the new run of fifty-six coins will start in 2021 immediately following this Tuskegee Airmen strike.
All of the coins in the program are meant to honor the beauty of the United States by showcasing sites of national interest from each state, the District of Columbia and the US Territories. These sites could include locations such as national monuments, national forests, national parks, etc. The designs showing the sites will be found on the reverse (tails side) of the coin.
The final design for the Tuskegee Airmen coin will probably only be unveiled by the Mint in early 2021. This will occur after the Treasury Secretary has made the decision on what that design would be. That decision will be based on input received from the Mint Director and organizations like the Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizen’s Coinage Advisory Committee. Those groups will get their first glimpse the design candidates for the coin probably in early 2020.
As these bullion coins are to feature identical images to those found on the quarter dollars, George Washington will be seen on the obverse (heads side) of each coin. His portrait has been included on the quarters since 1932.
Each bullion coin will have a diameter of three inches and be struck from five ounces of .999 fine silver. The coins content will be edge inscribed on each piece
Typical for all bullion pieces from the Mint, only a network of authorized purchasers will be able to get the coins directly from the Mint. After buying them in bulk, the network will re-distribute them to coin dealers and individuals for a small premium over the spot price of the five ounces of silver contained within them.
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Alabama
The Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Alabama was only created in 1998, but really commemorates the contributions of African Americans to the World War II effort over a half a century earlier.
Man has had a fascination with flight since the earliest times, but it was only with the turn of the 20th century that mastery over the skies seemed possible. Within a few decades after the Wright brothers had their first successful flight, thousands of Americans looked to the sky for their future.
By the late 1930’s, the United States Government had instituted several Civilian Pilot Training Programs to insure an availability of trained pilots in case of a national emergency. African Americans were even included in the programs, although they were run in segregated facilities.
One of these facilities was the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. With the onset of World War II, the U.S. Army Air Corp established a training squadron whose goal was to train African Americans to become combat pilots. Not only did the program succeed, but the Tuskegee Airmen (formally known as the 332nd fighter group) served with distinction in multiple enemy encounters.
Remembering the over 16,000 individuals who participated at Tuskegee is the goal of the Historic Site.