On Monday, April 4, 2011 at 12 noon Eastern Time, the United States Mint will begin selling 100-coin bags and two-roll sets of the 2011 Glacier National Park Quarter. For collectors, rolls and bags of new quarters are fairly popular not only because the coins are part of a series, but also because they offer a first chance to receive and look at new coins long before they make their way into every day circulation.
If the previous 2011 new quarter opening sales numbers are an indicator, then around 6,000 bags and 20,000 two-roll sets of Glacier’s quarters could sell during their first week of availability.
The 100-coin bags contain circulation quality strikes of the new Glacier quarter from either the US Mint’s facility in Philadelphia or Denver, depending on the buyer’s choice. Each bag is priced at $49.95. Since the face value of a bag is $25, the government’s premium is $24.95. As a note, this year’s price is considerably higher than the 2010 dated quarter bags, which were $35.95.
In the two-roll sets, one roll of Glacier National Park Quarters is from the Philadelphia Mint and the other roll is from the Denver Mint. The quarters are also circulation strikes. They have a total face value of $20. The US Mint will sell each two-roll set for $39.95. Again, the cost is higher than last year’s $32.95 priced two-roll sets.
The 2011 Glacier National Park Quarter bags and rolls may be ordered directly from the United States Mint website (http://www.usmint.gov/), or its toll free number 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). The standard $4.95 shipping and handling fee applies to all domestic orders.
Glacier National Park Quarters will be released into general circulation via the Federal Reserve Banking System on April 4 as well, although finding new quarters at local banks or in change can be difficult. Banks can only order a coin by denomination and not a specific design from the Federal Reserve.
As for the quarter’s launch ceremony, it will be held more than a week later on Wednesday, April 13 at 1 p.m. Mountain Time at Columbia Falls High School. The school is located at 610 13th Street West in Columbia Falls, Montana. Following the ceremony, a coin exchange of currency for rolls of Glacier’s quarters will take place. Freedom Bank from Columbia Falls will host the coin exchange at the school. Children who are 18 years old and younger in attendance at the event will receive a new quarter from ceremony officials.
The Glacier National Park Quarter marks the second of five new releases scheduled for 2011 in the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. It is the seventh in the series.
In all, fifty-six quarter-dollar designs are slated to be produced under the complete program which will run from 2010 until 2021. The designs represent a different site of national interest around the country. One site per each state, the District of Columbia and the five US territories was chosen. The designs are being released in the order that the national area was first established as a national site.
The reverse side of the quarter honoring Glacier National Park in Montana features the northeastern slope of Mount Reynolds in the background and a mountain goat on a rocky slope in the foreground. Inscriptions include GLACIER, MONTANA, 2011 and E PLURIBUS UNUM. It was designed by Barbara Fox and engraved by Charles L. Vickers.
The obverse is the same for every quarter in the America the Beautiful series. It is the 1932 portrait of President George Washington by John Flanagan. The Mint digitally restored the image to bring out more details of the original model. Inscriptions are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.
For information on other releases this year, check out the 2011 quarters page.