Appearing as the second 2012 dated strike of the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins™ series will be the Chaco Culture National Historical Park Silver Bullion Coin. This coin will honor Chaco Culture National Historical Park of New Mexico with a design showcased on its reverse. No official release date for the strike was known at the time of this posting.
All of the strikes of the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin series are struck from five ounces of .999 fine silver to a diameter of three inches. Shown on the reverse of the silver coins are designs honoring selected sites of national interest from each state of the United States as well as the District of Columbia and the five US territories.
These fifty-six sites were chosen through a process originally authorized as part of the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008 – Public Law 110-456. The order of release for the coins is dictated by the order in which the honored sites came under the direct control of the federal government.
As can be inferred from the fact that details of these silver bullion coins were authorized as part of legislation for new circulating quarters, the obverse and reverse designs of the bullion coins will also be seen on those associated quarters. This includes an obverse containing John Flanagan’s portrait of George Washington which has been used on the quarters since 1932. Surrounding the portrait are the inscriptions of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.
The reverse of each coin will contain the design dedicated to the national site – in this case, Chaco Culture National Historical Park of New Mexico. The emblematic design will be surrounded by the inscriptions of CHACO CULTURE, PUERTO RICO, 2012 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico
Chaco Culture National Historical Park of New Mexico preserves a site where a Chaco civilization once thrived. That community built many pueblo structures not only as housing but also much larger buildings which may have served as locations for ceremonies, political gatherings, etc.
After a few hundred years of relatively prosperous living in the region, the Chaco people began to leave the area. This may have been brought about by a 50 year drought that is thought to have affected the region in the twelfth century.
Many remains of their presence are still visible today, however.
