The Grand Canyon National Park Silver Bullion Coin is the fourth of five 2010 US Mint five ounce silver strikes honoring sites throughout the United States. As the name suggests, the silver bullion coin honors Grand Canyon National Park of Arizona.
The release is a part of America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins™ Program. Every .999 fine silver bullion coin within the program is composed of five ounces of the precious metal.
The 2010-dated issues, of which there are five, feature a diameter of three inches as required by the initial authorizing law. Law modifications approved in December 2010 allowed for future strikes to have a diameter of between 2.5 and 3.0 inches, however, the Mint has opted to keep with the initial diameter.
A release of these coins occurred on December 10, 2010 along with the other four 2010 America the Beautiful Bullion Coins. On that date, the Mint’s network of authorized purchasers (APs) was allowed to place their initial orders for the strikes after agreeing to a modified bullion agreement with the Mint. That modified agreement was added after price gouging concerns were levied against some of the APs by potential customers. The new agreement limited the profit the APs could make on selling the strikes since bullion coins are issued by the Mint as a low-cost investment option to be available at as near-market prices as possible.
Before the end of December was reached, the APs had ordered the Mint’s entire mintage of 33,000 of each of the five 2010-dated bullion coins. It took several more weeks, however, before most collectors and investors could place their orders for the strikes as the APs instituted ordering procedures required by the Mint especially for these coins.
The designs found on this silver bullion coin will also be found on two other American issues. The first is the companion collector grade version known as the Grand Canyon Silver Uncirculated Coin. The second is the circulating Grand Canyon Quarter from the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. All three coins contain a portrait of George Washington on their obverse as designed by John Flanagan. Each also bear inscriptions of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.
For the reverses, the Grand Canyon coins contains an image of the granaries above the Nankoweap Delta in Marble Canyon. It was designed by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill and also includes the inscriptions of Grand Canyon , Arizona, 2010 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona
The following information was provided about the national park by the United States Mint during the launch of the companion Grand Canyon America the Beautiful Quarter:
"The United States Mint is honored to be connecting America to its most significant natural treasures through the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program," said United States Mint Director Ed Moy. "The new Grand Canyon National Park quarter design echoes the ancient grandeur of this wondrous place."
"The introduction of a Grand Canyon quarter is a momentous occasion in the human story of the park; so we were thrilled when the Nankoweap granaries were chosen as the design for the reverse side," said Steve Martin, Superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park. "The use of the granaries really seems to connect the coin and today’s event to the thousands of years of human history reflected in archeological sites throughout the canyon."
The Grand Canyon was first established as a national site on February 20, 1893. A powerful and inspiring landscape, the Grand Canyon overwhelms our senses through its immense size – 277 river miles long, up to 18 miles wide and a mile deep. Although first afforded Federal protection in 1893 as a forest reserve and later as a national monument, the Grand Canyon did not achieve national park status until 1919, three years after the creation of the National Park Service. Today Grand Canyon National Park receives close to five million visitors every year – a far cry from the 44,173 visitors the park received in 1919.
