Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Coin Photos

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This year’s third pair of America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Coins celebrate Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. The uncirculated edition for coin collectors went on sale July 7, 2015. The bullion edition intended for investors launched on June 22, 2015 and has already sold out. This article presents photos of the two.

Photos of the bullion and uncirculated 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Coins
Here are photos of the bullion and uncirculated 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Coins. At this writing, U.S. Mint sales of the collectible version are at 16,627 while the bullion piece is sold out at 45,000.

Both coins share designs, inscriptions and all major specifications to include their five-ounce weight, .999 fine purity and 3.0-inch diameter. Each is made at the Philadelphia Mint on the same Grabener 1000 ton press.

2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Coin Edges
This photo shows the incused edge letterings on Blue Ridge Parkway America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Coins — edges on bullion and uncirculated editions are the same

Their finishes set them apart visually. Bullion coins have a brilliant finish while the collector editions have a matte uncirculated finish.

2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Bullion and Uncirculated Coins, Reverses
Here are photos of 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Coins — the bullion version is to the left while the collector uncirculated edition is shown on the right

Additionally, the collector coins carry a ‘P’ mint mark while the bullion issues have no mint mark.

2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Bullion and Uncirculated Coins, Obverses
Here are two photos of the obverse or heads side of America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Coins. The bullion version is left and the collector edition, which carries a ‘P’ mint mark below ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’, is right.

In other differences, they are also sold and packaged differently. The United States Mint offers its five-ounce bullion coins through a network of "authorized purchasers" at a price of $9.75 per coin, plus spot. AP’s buy them in bulk and then resell them with their own added premium. Today, as silver sits near $15.45 an ounce, you can buy non-graded examples from coin and precious metals dealers for about $133, with discounts offered at higher quantities. Conversely, the U.S. Mint sells collector issues directly to the public and their prices rarely change. They are available now for $149.95 each.

As for packaging, the Mint ships five-ounce bullion coins to AP’s in 10-coin tubes within blue monster boxes. For smaller orders, dealers often repackage coins into vinyl flips or plastic holders.

Monster Box and 10-Coin Tubes for America the Beautiful Five Ounce Bullion Coins
Monster Box and 10-Coin Tubes for America the Beautiful Five Ounce Bullion Coins

The more expensive collector coin arrives in a U.S. Mint-branded presentation case, is encapsulated for protection, and includes a certificate of authenticity.

2015-P Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin, Case and Certificate
A photo of the U.S. Mint-branded packaging and contents of the collectible five-ounce silver uncirculated coin
Blue Ridge Parkway 5 oz Silver Uncirculated Coin Certificate of Authenticity
Certificate of Authenticity
Blue Ridge Parkway 5 oz Silver Uncirculated Coin Specifications
5-Ounce Coin Specifications

Sales of the pair have moved along at different paces. After temporarily selling out on the same day it launched, ordering re-opened for the bullion coin on July 13. Sales reached 45,000 until the official sellout happened on July 29. That’s the highest total in the series since coins from 2011.

The collector uncirculated coin opened with starting sales of 15,295. It logged added orders of 533 during its first full week of availability, another 257 during the second week, 542 in the third week, and then 309 through the fourth week. As of Aug. 9, it has sales of 16,936 for 84.7% of the maximum 20,000 coins. Competing in tougher conditions with a fixed price set against a down silver market, its nearly five-week total is off 616 from same period start of the prior 2015-dated five-ounce issue honoring Kisatchie National Forest of Louisiana and 1,452 lower than the first one celebrating Homestead National Monument of America in Nebraska.

Latest 2015 ATB Five Ounce Silver Coin Sales

Below are the latest available sales figures for this year’s coins. Those with an asterisk (*) are sold out.

  Bullion Edition Collector Edition
2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Silver Coins 45,000* 16,936
2015 Kisatchie Silver Coins 42,000* 17,405
2015 Homestead Silver Coins 35,000* 18,962
     

 

Here are two larger photos of both sides of the collectible 2015-P Blue Ridge Parkway uncirculated silver coin:

2015-P Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin, Reverse
2015-P Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin, Reverse
2015-P Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin, Obverse
2015-P Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin, Obverse

And lastly, here are two larger photos of both sides of the bullion 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway silver coin:

2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin, Reverse
2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin, Reverse
2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin, Obverse
2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coin, Obverse
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David

I find the 5 ounce silver coins to be very beautiful coins. The 3″ diameter provides a good canvas to draw on. The fact that you can get the bullion version for about the same price as 5 silver eagles makes these a no brainer if you are going to be buying silver anyway.

Dave

I agree – I’ve been collecting them since 2011, waiting for the limited mintage 2010’s to come down in price so I can have a complete set.

I have a neat way to display them as well. My wife had old shelves for displaying tea cups and saucers; the groove in the wood is the perfect width to fit the coin to stand on edge.

Whistler

Giant price spike in these pucks of late?

Hugo Persijn

What i don’t understand is that one issue has eg. 14863 , the next one 29000 ,
27500 , …
I don’t get it.