2011-P Vicksburg 5 Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin Available

The United States Mint released its 2011-P Vicksburg National Military Park 5 Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin for Mississippi on Thursday, January 12, 2012. The uncirculated coin marks the second numismatic release of the year for the Mint, with the first being Tuesday’s issuance of the 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set.

Listed for $204.95, the Vicksburg silver uncirculated coin is at the same price point as three others in the series which are still available — the 2011 Gettysburg National Military Park Silver Uncirculated Coin for Pennsylvania, the 2011 Glacier National Park Silver Uncirculated Coin for Montana and the Olympic National Park Uncirculated Coin for Washington.

All of these coins belong to the family of America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins™ which kicked-off to a late start. The first five coins, which have all sold out, bear a year of 2010 but did not launch until 2011. The first three 2011-dated coins did appear last year, but the last two — Vicksburg’s coin and the upcoming February 9 launch of the Chickasaw National Recreation Area 5 Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin — were held out until 2012 in order to better stagger their release dates.

The 2011-P Vicksburg National Military Park 5 Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin may be ordered at http://www.usmint.gov/ or via the U.S. Mint toll-free phone number, 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). There is currently an order limit of 5 per household in place.

The 5 ounce uncirculated coins have already gone through some price progressions as a result of swings in silver prices. Fortunately for collectors, prices thus far have declined. They started at $279.95, moved to $229.95 on October 7, 2011 and were most recently adjusted to $204.95 on December 27, 2011. The maximum mintages have also been tweaked. The 2010-dated issues each had a mintage of 27,000 while the 2011-dated coins have a higher mintage of 35,000.

America the Beautiful Quarters and the uncirculated coin series have much in common. Both share identical obverse and reverse designs and each honors a specific national park or national site located within the United States or its territories. Of course the quarters are much smaller and have reeded edges while the uncirculated coins weigh 5 ounces, have a diameter of 3 inches and include an edge inscription of .999 FINE SILVER 5.0 OUNCE.

Designed by Thomas Cleveland and sculpted by Joseph Menna, the reverse of the Vicksburg coin depicts the U.S.S. Cairo on the Yazoo River as it would have been seen when it served the Union Navy during the Civil War. Inscriptions are VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI, 2011 and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The obverse features the familiar portrait of George Washington with inscriptions of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, and QUARTER DOLLAR. The obverse also features a ‘P’ mint mark indicating its production at the United States Mint facility in Philadelphia.

Also available via the secondary market is a 5 ounce bullion version featuring Vicksburg National Military Park. This coin is intended for investors, has a slightly different finish and lacks the ‘P’ mint mark — although it was also produced at the same facility as the uncirculated coin. June 20, 2011, was the debut date for the Vicksburg silver bullion coin. It was then that the United States Mint started allowing its network of authorized purchasers to begin ordering the investment-grade strikes. An initial mintage was set at 126,700. The Mint’s latest figures as of Monday, January 9, have their sales at 34,300.