On Monday, June 13, 2011 at 12 noon Eastern Time, the United States Mint made available 2011 Olympic National Park Quarter rolls and bags. The Olympic National Park Quarter marks the third of five new quarter-dollar releases this year and the eighth overall in the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. Like its previous 2011 issues, the two-roll set will be priced at $39.95, and each 100-coin bag will be $49.95.
Since the coins in the rolls and bags are business strikes and have never been circulated in the public, they have a certain draw for coin collectors. Buyers of the two-roll set will receive one 40 coin roll from the Denver Mint and one 40 coin roll from the Philadelphia Mint. The rolls have special black and white wrapping that says "America the Beautiful Quarters Program," "$10," "Olympic National Park (WA)," and either a "D" for Denver or a "P" for Philadelphia.
Those who want the 100-coin bags have a choice of quarters from either Denver or Philadelphia. Each canvas bag is marked with "U.S. Mint Quarters," "$25.00," and has a tag with "2011," "America the Beautiful Quarters Program," "Olympic National Park (WA)," the logos for both the National Park Service and the US Mint, and "P" or "D" for the city of origin.
The new Olympic National Park Quarter will also enter public circulation via the Federal Reserve Banking system beginning today. Those not willing to wait on a local bank or the Mint to ship an order can, if they are in the area, attend the special coin ceremony that will be held Tuesday morning (11 AM ET), June 14, at City Pier in Port Angeles, WA. It is a tradition of the United States Mint to arrange a coin-exchange for $10 rolls of the newest quarter immediately following the ceremony. Those rolls, however, will have common wrapping for businesses and banks.
It should be noted that the U.S. Mint has planned a Coin Forum to take place Monday evening, June 13, at the Mt. Olympic National Park Visitor Center at 600 East Park Avenue in Port Angeles, WA. It is scheduled to begin at 7 PM ET.
One version of the Olympic quarter has already entered the market, albeit it was struck for silver investors. On May 23, the US Mint began selling the Olympic National Park 5-Ounce Silver Bullion Coin to its small network of silver authorized purchasers. The five ounce silver coin has a large, three inch diameter, edge lettering, and sports the same designs as the regular quarters but on a much larger scale. The purchasers sell the bullion coins on to other coin dealers, precious-metal businesses, and often to the public.
Currently the United States Mint is offering several more products that contain an Olympic National Park Quarter as part of a set. They are:
- 2011 America the Beautiful Quarters Uncirculated Coin Set™ ($21.95)
- 2011 United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set™ ($41.95)
- 2011 United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Proof Set™ ($14.95)
- 2011 United States Mint Uncirculated Coin Set® ($31.95)
- 2011 United States Mint Silver Proof Set™ ($67.95)
- 2011 United States Mint Proof Set® ($31.95)
There will be one more set scheduled this year. It will be the America the Beautiful Quarters Three-Coin Set™ for Olympic National Park and is to be released on September 20, 2011.
For information on past or upcoming quarters for this year, check out the 2011 National Park Quarters page.