The third release in 2012 of the America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™ Program will be the Acadia National Park Silver Uncirculated Coin. This release will feature a reverse emblematic of Acadia National Park found in the state of Maine. An official release date was not known at the time of this posting.
Like all of the other coins in this series, the Acadia Silver Uncirculated Coin will be struck for collectors from five ounces of .999 fine silver to a diameter of three inches. This uncirculated series was created as the collector grade versions of the US Mint’s America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins™ Program and is known itself as the America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™ Program.
The authority to strike these numismatic coins was granted to the Treasury Secretary under 31 U.S.C. §5111(a) (3). Under that law, the Secretary is provided the discretion to produce and sell items of numismatic interest.
Each Acadia Silver Uncirculated Coin will feature a reverse emblematic of the national park. Surrounding the emblematic design will be the inscriptions of ACADIA, MAINE, 2012 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
The design placed on the obverse side of the coin should be familiar to most. It will contain a portrait of George Washington, first President of the United States. That portrait was originally designed by John Flanagan for the 1932 circulating quarter dollar and has been in use on the quarters ever since including the current America the Beautiful Quarters® and the associated bullion coins. Inscriptions surrounding the portrait include UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.
Acadia National Park in Maine
Acadia National Park of Maine was originally created as Lafayette National Park in 1919 to preserve much of Mount Desert Island and the surrounding smaller islands. The park took on its current name of Acadia in 1929.
Much of the infrastructure found in the 47,390 acre park today is owed to the wealthy philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Through his generous contributions, a vast network of carriage trails, bridges and lodges were constructed inside the park in the first half of the twentieth century.
