The Shawnee National Forest Silver Uncirculated Coin will be issued by the US Mint as the first 2016 strike of a special collectible coin series. A design emblematic of Shawnee National Forest of Illinois will be found on the reverse of the silver uncirculated coin. An official release date for the coin was not known at the time of this posting.
The US Mint strikes this series of coins under the authority granted the Secretary of the Treasury in 31 U.S.C. §5111(a) (3). This series is considered the numismatic versions of the US Mint’s America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin™ Program and features similar specifications to those coins including being struck from five ounces of .999 fine silver and a diameter of three inches.
There are a few differences between the uncirculated coin bullion coins. For one, the uncirculated coin will contain a ‘P’ mintmark indicating it was struck at the US Mint’s facility in Philadelphia. The bullion coin contains no mintmark. An additional difference lies in their intended markets. The bullion coins are struck for investors and sold through the Mint’s network of authorized purchasers whereas these uncirculated coins are intended for collectors and initially sold directly to the public by the Mint.
Shown on the reverse of the coin is a portrait of George Washington, the first President of the United States. The portrait was designed by John Flanagan and will be surrounded by the inscriptions of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.
The reverse of the coin will contain the image emblematic of Shawnee National Forest. This design will be selected by the Treasury Secretary from several design candidates. It will include the inscriptions of SHAWNEE, ILLINOIS, 2016 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Shawnee National Forest in Illinois
Shawnee National Forest of Illinois was officially declared in September 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its declaration occurred after several years of land acquisition, most of which was exhausted farmland.
The government initiated a process of replanting the forest with pine trees to prevent erosion. Those trees joined the many hardwood trees already present in the area to create the forest we know today.
