The fourth of five strikes to appear in 2012 as part of a series will be the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park Silver Bullion Coin. This strike honors Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park found in the state of Hawaii with a design on its reverse. No official release date was known at the time of this posting.
This coin marks the fourteenth to appear overall in the US Mint’s America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins™ Program which debuted in 2010 and features coins struck from five ounces of silver to a diameter of three inches. The series features five strikes released annually as part of it until the last one appears in 2021.
The designs found on the series are actually taken from another US Mint program – the America the Beautiful Quarters®. These America the Beautiful Quarters were authorized as part of the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008 which also authorized the bullion series.
Struck to look like the circulating quarters, the obverse of each strike contains the John Flanagan portrait of George Washington, the first President of the United States. This portrait was first featured on the circulating quarter in 1932 and has appeared on the quarter dollar in one form or another ever since. Also included on the obverse are the inscriptions of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.
The reverse of each Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Silver Bullion Coin will contain the design emblematic of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Inscriptions around the design will include HAWAII VOLCANOES, HAWAII, 2012 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is found on the big island of Hawaii in the state of Hawaii. It was originally established on August 1, 1916 as the eleventh national park of the United States and the first one authorized in a territory. The park today consists of 505.36 square miles which surround the two volcanoes of the island – Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.
Mauna Loa is the world’s most massive volcano and Kīlauea is considered one of the most active. In fact, it is not uncommon for visitors to the park to be able to see active lava flows in addition to many other thermal features.
