Earlier this week the United States Mint started selling investor Shenandoah National Park Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins through its network of distributors and next week the U.S. Mint will offer its collector Shenandoah National Park Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins directly to the public.

Both coins are nearly identical, featuring three-inch diameters, a composition of five ounces of 99.9% fine silver and the same designs as the smaller Shenandoah quarters that were released into circulation on March 31, 2014.

Bullion Shenandoah National Park silver coins have a brilliant finish, no mintmarks and are produced for investors. They were released on May 5, 2014 and can be ordered from precious metal and coin dealers for a few dollars per ounce over silver spot. U.S. Mint sales for the coins today, May 9, total 15,200. It will strike these coins to meet demand.

Collector Shenandoah National Park uncirculated silver coins go on sale Thursday, May 15, 2014 and will be available directly from the United States Mint website (www.mint.ca) for $154.95. These coins have a special matte finish and a "P" mint mark to denote production at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. The maximum mintage is 30,000.

These two coins are the second issues this year within their respective series of America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Coins. The first ones featured designs emblematic of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Upcoming five ounce coins for 2014, and quarters for that matter, honor Arches National Park, Great Sands Dunes National Park and Everglades National Park.

Featured on Arches Shenandoah National Park quarters and silver coins is Phebe Hemphill’s design of a day hiker taking in the view from Little Stony Man summit. Inscriptions around the design read: Inscriptions around the scene read: SHENANDOAH, VIRGINIA, 2014 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.