The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Silver Uncirculated Coin will be the last strike released by the US Mint in 2020 as part of the America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™ Program in addition to also marking the second to last strike of the series overall. Shown on the reverse of the silver bullion coin will be a design emblematic of the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve located in the state of Kansas. A release date for the coin was not known at the time of this posting.
Coins of this series are considered the numismatic versions of the Mint’s America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin™ Program and are struck from five ounces of .999 fine silver with a diameter of three inches like those bullion coins. The strikes feature reverse designs emblematic of sites of national interest from around the United States and its territories.
Both the bullion and the uncirculated coins debuted with 2010-dated strikes followed by a release rate of five per year. When the original series are completed in 2021, a total of fifty-six will have been issued per program. That is unless Congress or the Secretary of the Treasury opt to renew the America the Beautiful series for a complete second run which would start immediately following the first.
Shown on the obverse of each coin is the same portrait of George Washington, the first President of the United States. His image was originally created by John Flanagan for use on the 1932 circulating quarter dollar and has been appearing 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 contains the design emblematic of the selected site of national interest, in this case the national preserve. A final design for the reverse of this coin will likely not be known until late in 2019 after it has been chosen from several design candidates presented to the Secretary of the Treasury. Reverse inscriptions should include TALLGRASS PRAIRIE, KANSAS, 2020 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve of Kansas
The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve of Kansas was established by an act of Congress on November 12, 1996. This preserve is actually a cooperative of sorts between the National Park Service and the Nature Conservancy.
Together, the two entities manage the 10,894 acres of the preserve which was established to protect a relatively small area of tallgrass prairie found there. It reminds all of the tallgrass prairies which once covered up to 400,000 square miles of North America.
