Struck from five ounces of .999 fine silver will be the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Silver Uncirculated Coin. Shown on the reverse of the silver uncirculated coin will be a design emblematic of Great Smoky Mountains National Park located in the state of Tennessee. A release date for the coin was not known at the time of this posting.
The Great Smoky Mountains Coin marks the first of five 2014 releases of the America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™ Program from the US Mint. That program is considered the numismatic versions of the Mint’s America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin™ series. Both are struck from five ounces of silver to a large diameter of three inches.
The US Mint produces the silver uncirculated coins 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. In contrast, the related bullion coins were authorized as part of Public Law 110-456. That law sought to create the bullion series as large bullion counterparts of a related circulating quarters program.
As such, all three series (silver uncirculated, silver bullion and circulating quarters) include similar imagery including an obverse portrait of George Washington, by John Flanagan. That portrait will be surrounded by the inscriptions of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.
The reverse will contain the inscriptions of GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS, TENNESSEE, 2014 and E PLURIBUS UNUM which will surround the design emblematic of Great Smoky Mountains. An edge inscription will identify the weight and fineness of this silver uncirculated coin with .999 FINE SILVER 5.0 OUNCE.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee
Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Tennessee was originally established by the United States Congress on June 15, 1934. It encompasses a total of approximately 521,086 acres of the Blue Ridge Mountains with some of that acreage located in Tennessee and some of it in the neighboring state of North Carolina.
The national park receives over 9 million visitors annually who come to take in not only the scenery of the park, but also its recreational activities such as hiking and fishing. In fact, the park is touted as the most visited national park in the United States.
