2011 America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins Release

On April 25, 2011, the United States Mint will make the first of the 2011-dated America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins available for purchase. This year’s release and distribution of the 5 ounce silver bullion series is expected to be much different than experienced for the previous year.

As with other bullion programs of the United States Mint, the coins are distributed through a network of authorized purchasers. A group of primary distributors may purchase the coins directly from the Mint in bulk quantities based on the market price of the metal plus a modest premium. For the 5 oz. ATB silver bullion coins, this premium is $9.75 per coin. After acquisition, the authorized purchasers resell the coins to other bullion dealers, coin dealers, and the broader public.

For this year’s offering, the US Mint will start by releasing two different designs featuring Gettysburg National Military Park and Glacier National Park, each with a mintage of 126,500 units. This will be followed by three additional designs released later in the year featuring Olympic National Park, Vicksburg National Military Park, and Chickasaw National Recreation Area. The US Mint has stated that their goal is to produce a minimum of 126,500 coins for each of these designs.

For the 2010-dated issues, all five designs had been released on the same date, late in the year. Each of the designs had production of only 33,000 units. This extremely limited mintage generated excitement with collectors, as the coins were viewed more as low mintage numismatic products than bullion coins. In an attempt to prevent price gouging, the US Mint would halt sales and impose terms and conditions on the distribution of the coins at the authorized purchaser level. This included capping the premiums on the coins and distributing directly to the public, with a household limit imposed.

For the upcoming releases, mintage levels are high enough that the US Mint will not impose similar terms on their distributors, except for the standard allocation (rationing) program and a requirement to certify that all of the prior year coins have been distributed in accordance with the rules previously set.