This week the United States Mint began accepting orders for the fourth of five 2012 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins, this one honoring Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
2012 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin
As a bullion product, the 2012 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin is not offered by the Mint directly to the public.
Instead, they are sold in bulk to authorized U.S. Mint distributors who then resell them in smaller quantities for a bit more than the price of the precious metal within each. Certain coin and bullion dealers have already started to offer the coin to the public via their websites, like http://www.apmex.com.
Current Sales and Mintages
Debut sales for the Hawaii Volcanoes silver coin appeared on Monday, September 10, with distributors taking in 7,900. Another 2,500 were scooped up on Friday, September 14. That lifted their sales total to 10,400 coins for a total of 52,000 ounces, since each America the Beautiful coin contains five ounces of 99.9% pure silver.
To date, the Hawaii Volcanoes bullion coin is the only piece to appear in the five ounce bullion sales chart for September. Other five ounce coins did sell, but these were previously issued collector uncirculated versions that the U.S. Mint does offer directly to the public via its website http://www.usmint.gov. On that note, the collectible 2012-P Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin is not scheduled for release until September 24, 2012.
Currently, the U.S. Mint is selling to its distributors a total of seven bullion ATB silver coins. The following grid offers the latest sales for them as of Friday, September 14, 2012.
| America the Beautiful Five Ounce Bullion Coin Sales | |
|---|---|
| All-Time Sales | |
| 2012 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin | 10,400 |
| 2012 Acadia National Park Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins | 15,100 |
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin | 17,000 |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins | 16,700 |
| 2011 Chickasaw National Park Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin | 29,700 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins | 39,500 |
| 2011 Olympic National Park Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin | 85,900 |
| Sales TOTAL | 214,300 |
This year’s bullion coins do not have stated mintages. The United States Mint has said it will produce them in quantities to meet demand. As silver prices have jumped to multi-month highs, demand has been rising for the five ouncers as compared to earlier in the year.
Coin Designs
Designs on the Hawaii Volcanoes bullion coin are identical to the obverse (heads) and reverse (tails) sides of the Hawaii Volcanoes quarter that was released into circulation late last month. The reverse, by Charles L. Vickers, offers a unique scene of an eruption on the east rift of Kilauea Volcano. Reverse inscriptions include HAWAI’I VOLCANOES, HAWAII, 2012 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Unlike the quarters that have reeded edges, the five ounce coins have edge lettering of .999 FINE SILVER 5.0 OUNCE. The silver bullion coin is also significantly bigger with its 3-inch diameter.
2012-Dated Bullion Coin Releases
The final bullion 2012 ATB coin will feature Denali National Park of Alaska. The U.S. Mint has not indicated when it or its collectible uncirculated version will get released. The Denali quarter is expected to launch into circulation on November 5, 2012.
The three previously released 2012 America the Beautiful coins include those honoring El Yunque National Forest of Puerto Rico, Chaco Culture National Historical Park of New Mexico, and Acadia National Park of Maine.
{ 0 comments… add one now }