This article is the fifth in a series to briefly detail the various U.S. Mint offerings that include 2010 quarters.
The fifth major numismatic product to contain this year’s America the Beautiful Quarters Program coins is the 2010 United States Mint Silver Proof Set™.
As the name of the set indicates, several coins are struck from 90% silver, a composition in the days of old referred to as coin silver. The pieces minted from the precious metal are the Kennedy Half Dollar, the Roosevelt Dime and the newly designed 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters.
The five 2010 quarters include 0.904 ounces of silver while the 50c and 10c pieces have respective silver weights of 0.36 ounce and 0.07 ounces. Combined, the silver set includes 1.34 ounces of silver which is an intrinsic value of $22.75 at a silver spot price of $17.00 an ounce.
The US Mint has not yet indicated the Silver Proof Set price. Last year’s set sold for $52.95, but it included 18 coins. Previous year’s sets included the standard 14 coins and sold for $44.95. While no exact release date is available, the Mint has provided a general August / September time frame.
The set includes proof strikes of the fourteen 2010-dated circulating coins, which in the order of their face value are:
- (4) 2010-S Presidential $1 Coins (Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln)
- (1) 2010-S Native American $1 Coin
- (1) 2010-S Kennedy half-dollar
- (5) 2010-S America the Beautiful Quarters
- (1) 2010-S Roosevelt dime
- (1) 2010-S Jefferson nickel
- (1) 2010-S Lincoln cent
This year’s annual set is expected to sell extremely well. Helping sales will be the Lincoln Presidential $1 coin. Newly designed coinage with Lincoln’s portrait have been exceedingly popular.
Additionally, the new quarter-dollars are significant for the fact that they represent the debut of the America the Beautiful series. According to the terms of the Act which authorizes them, five new quarters will be struck annually from 2010-2021 with each coin showcasing a National Park or other site of national interest. The program operates in a fashion similar to the State Quarter series which ran from 1999-2008. As such, each state (and the District of Columbia and the five US Territories) will see a site located within its boundaries featured in the program.
The order of the quarters’ release is dictated by the year in which the selected site came under the jurisdiction of the federal government. (See America the Beautiful Quarters Release Schedule.) Accordingly, Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas will be the first strike issued since that park has been considered federally owned since 1832. The quarter dollars to follow in 2010 include the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming Quarter, the Yosemite National Park in California Quarter, the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona Quarter and the Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon Quarter.
