2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set

The new 11-year series entitled America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuts from the United States Mint this year with five newly designed quarters.

The U.S. Mint’s second major numismatic product of the year to contain these coins is the 2010 United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set™.

The quarters contained within are struck from 90 percent silver. At a standard weight of 6.250 grams per coin, the set includes 0.904 ounces of silver which is an intrinsic value of $16.05 at a silver spot price of $17.75 an ounce.

The price of the set is $32.95 and the launch date is May 27, 2010. As a comparison, last year’s quarters silver proof set is $3 cheaper, included one more quarter and was released more than two months earlier. On the price front, however, the cost of silver was also several dollars less in 2009.

A look back shows the 2009 Silver Quarters Proof Set debuted on March 23, 2009, and the 2008 set premiered in February of that year. As with the clad quarters proof sets, the delayed 2010 launch is likely to result in fewer months on sale, and mintage / sales levels could be greatly affected as a result.

Each coin in the silver set is produced at the Mint’s facility in San Francisco, and bears the "S" mint mark accordingly. Normal circulation quarters are minted in Philadelphia or Denver.

The Mint describes the process of creating a proof coin as "a manufacturing process in which specially-treated coin blanks are struck multiple times using specially-polished dies. Proof coins-unlike coins produced for general circulation-are extraordinarily brilliant, with sharp relief and a mirror-like background. A frosted, sculpted foreground gives these coins a special cameo effect."

Included in the set are five quarters honoring sites "emblematic of a national park or other national site," as dictated by the authorizing America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, Public Law 110-456. The 2010 quarters are the first five in the program which will ultimately feature at least 56 new coins before its run is completed.

The 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters include:

• 2010 Hot Springs National Park Quarter
• 2010 Yellowstone National Park Quarter
• 2010 Yosemite National Park Quarter
• 2010 Grand Canyon National Park Quarter
• 2010 Mount Hood National Forest Site Quarter

They honor sites within the states of Arkansas, Wyoming, California, Arizona and Oregon, respectively.

The US Mint released the eighteen 2010 quarter design candidates late last year, and final quarter images were revealed in mid-April, although proof images are yet to be offered.

On the set’s issue day, only the Hot Springs quarter will have been released. It is typical that only a certain portion of a year’s quarters will have been released into circulation when collector proof sets are launched, since the final quarters for a given year are always released well into the Fall.

At noon Eastern Time on the 27th, the 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set can be purchased directly from the Mint web site (http://www.usmint.gov/), or via their toll free telephone number 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).