The Fort Moultrie / Sumter National Monument Silver Uncirculated Coin will be issued by the US Mint as the last of five 2016 strikes of the America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™ Program. The reverse of the silver uncirculated coin will contain a design emblematic of Fort Moultrie found at Fort Sumter National Monument in the state of South Carolina. A release date for the coin was not known at the time of this posting.
The US Mint created this series under the authority granted the Treasury of the Secretary in 31 U.S.C. §5111(a) (3) to produce and sell items of numismatic interest. To that end, the Mint created this program of five ounce .999 fine strikes to be the numismatic versions of an associated series of bullion coins.
Both series feature similar specifications including being struck from the five ounces of .999 fine silver and a diameter of three inches. Both also feature an edge inscription indicating that weight and fineness with .999 FINE SILVER 5.0 OUNCE. These series contain obverse and reverse imagery originally created for an associated circulating quarter program which features reverse designs emblematic of different sites of national interest from around the United States and its territories.
Accordingly, the obverse of each shows a portrait of George Washington, as originally designed by John Flanagan. The portrait was initially used on the 1932 circulating quarter dollar and has been in use on the quarters in one form or another ever since. Also shown on the obverse will be the inscriptions of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.
The reverse will contain the design emblematic of the selected site, in this case Fort Moultrie / Fort Sumter National Monument. That emblematic design will be surrounded by the inscriptions of FORT MOULTRIE, SOUTH CAROLINA, 2016 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Fort Moultrie / Sumter National Monument in South Carolina
Fort Moultrie is a part of Fort Sumter National Monument of South Carolina which was originally established on April 28, 1948. While the larger Fort Sumter complex has a different story to tell, Fort Moultrie was included mainly because of its part in the American Revolutionary War.
When the fort was still incomplete, forces there were called into action to defend the port of Charleston, South Carolina from British Warships. It did successfully defend the port in large part to the soft palmetto logs which made up the majority of the construction of the facility and which were said to be sufficiently springy to actually cause cannon balls to bounce off of them.
