The Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine Silver Uncirculated Coin will be released by the US Mint in 2013. Each Fort McHenry Silver Uncirculated Coin will honor the national monument and historic shrine in Maryland with a design emblematic of the location on the reverse. As of this posting, a release date for the strike was not known.
These coins will be issued as the fourth of five 2013 dated releases of the US Mint’s America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™ series. As with all other coins in this US Mint series, each coin will be struck from five ounces of .999 fine silver to a diameter of three inches.
The series was created under the authority granted the Secretary of the Treasury in 31 U.S.C. §5111(a) (3) to produce and sell items of numismatic interest and is considered the collector-grade versions of the Mint’s America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins™ Program. Just like these uncirculated coins, the bullion strikes contain five ounces of silver and feature reverse designs emblematic of selected sites of national interest from around the United States and its territories.
This specific coin will feature a reverse emblematic of Fort McHenry, as previously mentioned. That design will be surrounded by the inscriptions of FORT MCHENRY , MARYLAND, 2013 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
The obverse will contain a portrait of George Washington, just like the circulating quarter dollars which both these silver uncirculated coins and the associated bullion coins are struck to resemble. The portrait of the first President of the United States was originally designed by John Flanagan and will be surrounded by the inscriptions of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Maryland
The Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine of Maryland was originally established on March 3, 1925 as a national park. It took on its current title on August 11, 1939 and is the only site to hold the double designation of national monument and historic shrine.
Congress sought to protect and remember the site of Fort McHenry because it played a significant role in the War of 1812 when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor against forces of the British Navy. It was this battle that Francis Scott Key witnessed and wrote about in his poem – The Star-Spangled Banner. That poem went on to become the national anthem of the United States.
