The first 2014 strike of the US Mint’s America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin™ Program will be the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Silver Bullion Coin. This bullion coin will honor Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Tennessee with a design showcased on its reverse. A release date for the strike was not known at the time of this posting.
Congress authorized this series of silver bullion coins with the passage of the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008 which became Public Law 110-456 when it was signed by President George W. Bush on December 23, 2008. As can be inferred from the name of the Act, a series of circulating quarter dollars was also authorized when the Act became law.
Both the quarters and these bullion coins (along with a related series of silver uncirculated coins) contain similar imagery. That is because the bullion coins are required by law to feature designs similar to those of the related circulating quarters including an obverse portrait of George Washington and a reverse design emblematic of a selected site of national interest.
The obverse portrait of Washington was originally designed by John Flanagan for the 1932 circulating quarter dollar. It has been in use on the quarters in one form or another ever since. Surrounding the portrait will be the inscriptions of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.
Shown on the reverse of the Great Smoky Mountains Coins will be the design honoring the national park. Also shown on the reverse will be the inscriptions of GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS, TENNESSEE, 2014 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee
Congress officially established Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Tennessee on June 15, 1934. It was the first national park whose land was partially paid for with federal funds. Previous parks had the distinction of all being paid for by the host state or private funds.
The park is approximately 814 square miles in size with many recreational opportunities offered within its borders. In fact, so many people come to this national park that is is considered the most visited in the national park system.
