Shenandoah National Park makes one of its final numismatic appearances with today’s release of a three-inch, five ounce silver coin emblematic of the site in Virginia.
New from the United States Mint is the 2014-P Shenandoah National Park Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin, the second issue this year and the 22nd overall from the series of America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins.
Pricing, Discount, Premiums and Higher Mintage
This latest U.S. Mint collector product is available at a regular price of $154.95. Subscribers to the series caught a special 10% discount and paid $139.45, or $15.50 less. Subscribers are those who have committed to receive the coins automatically when they are released. Either price is sharply lower than when the series was introduced in 2010 as those early coins sold for $279.95 a piece.
With the coin’s 99.9% pure silver composition and at Thursday’s London silver fixing of $19.66 an ounce, each has an intrinsic or melt value of $99.30. At its regular price, that places the U.S. Mint’s premium per ounce at $11.33. At the discounted price, the premium is down to $8.23 per ounce. Both are attractive, especially when compared against the Mint’s most popular silver product, the one-ounce proof Silver Eagle which has a premium of $33.29.
Mintages have been variable since the five-ounce series debuted. This year’s first coin, honoring Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and released on April 7, has a mintage limit of 25,000 with 24,043 of those claimed as of Sunday, May 11. Expecting higher demand, the U.S. Mint raised the mintage of the 2014-P Shenandoah Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin by 5,000 to 30,000. One factor in favor of increased sales is the higher population of Virginia, the location of the national park.
Shenandoah Coin Design
Designs on the silver coin are the same as those on Shenandoah National Park quarters which launched into circulation on March 31, 2014 with bags and rolls of the coins released on the same day.
Reverses, or the tails side, feature Phebe Hemphill’s depiction of a day hiker taking in the view from Little Stony Man summit. Inscriptions surrounding the design read: SHENANDOAH, VIRGINIA, 2014 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Common to all America the Beautiful coins, obverses bear the 1932 portrait of George Washington as designed by John Flanagan. Edges on quarters are reeded while the five ounce silvers coins are flat and incused with “.999 FINE SILVER 5.0 OUNCE.”
See how 5 oz coins are made at the U.S. Mint facility in Philadelphia.
Ordering
2014-P Shenandoah National Park Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins may be ordered from the United States Mint online product page, located here, or by phone using 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). There are no per household ordering limits.
Coins arrive encapsulated, set inside a protective outer box and come with a United States Mint Certificate of Authenticity.
Bullion Version of Shenandoah 5 Oz Silver Coin
Last week, on May 5, the U.S. Mint introduced the bullion version of this same issue, the Shenandoah National Park Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin. Bullion coins bear a brilliant finish, lack the “P” mint mark and do not come in special U.S. Mint packaging.
Also, the U.S. Mint does not sell bullion coins to the public as they are produced for investors. Instead, its network of authorized distributors orders them in bulk and resells them in smaller quantities to coin and precious metals dealers or straight to the public. Bullion coins are typically available for several dollars per ounce over spot.
U.S. Mint sales of the Shenandoah bullion coin reached 15,200 in the first week and stand at 17,200 as of Wednesday, May 14.
