In 2010 a new series of quarters will be launched by the United States Mint. The America the Beautiful Quarters series will issue a total of 56 circulating quarter dollar coins over the course of twelve years, featuring National Parks or other National Sites from each of the states, territories, and the District of Columbia.

The new series begins two years after the conclusion of the popular 50 State Quarters Program. From 1999 to 2008, the US Mint released a total of fifty different coins to honor each of the states. Average Americans were able to learn more about history and geography by examining the coins received in change. A separate program was launch in 2009 to feature the remaining United States Territories and Washington, DC.

While the America the Beautiful Quarters Program will be similar to the other programs, it will have a unique focus and introduce an accompanying bullion program. The new program will feature 56 different coins, with unique depictions on the “tails side” of the coin. The “heads side” will feature a restored portrait of George Washington. Quarters will also be released at a rate of five per year, but with a single design in the final year. The new coins will be released into circulation, making potential collectors out of anyone who receives them.

The focus of the series will shift National sites. Under the authorizing legislation, this includes any site under the supervision, management, or conservancy of the National Park Service, United States Forest Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or similar department or agency of the federal government. Sites selected for the program include National Parks, National Forests, National Preserves, and National Wildlife Refuges.

The new collectible introduced with the series will be over-sized silver bullion coins. These five ounce .999 fine silver coins will be issued each year with designs which are an exact duplicate of the quarters. The coins will be sold by the United States Mint as bullion through their network of authorized bullion purchasers.

The United States Mint has already established the order of release for the entire 56 quarter program. The America the Beautiful Quarters will issue the different designs in the order the sites were federally designated. The first year of release will include Hot Springs National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, the Grand Canyon, and Mount Hood National Forest.

Find detailed information about the upcoming America the Beautiful Quarters Program. View the America the Beautiful Quarters Release Dates.

Any coin collector knows that his collection cannot be complete without the silver eagle coin. The set of American Silver eagle coins is special because they are the largest in size and are made using the purest legal silver in the history of the United States.

The coins come in a size that makes them easily portable, and the owners can move them conveniently. This is by far the most appealing aspect of the American Silver Eagle coin collection.

These coins have a government guarantee status which is applicable universally. This makes the coins highly liquid and they retain great value around the world.

Although collectors value silver eagle coins the question is how you compare their uniqueness and worth with other special collectible coins. This is because silver eagle coins are not antique.

Contrary to popular belief, these coins are young and have been in distribution for only two decades.

Individuals interested in adding silver eagle coins to their collections need to be aware of the place where they were minted and when they were minted. You also need to know about the available mint marks and have a good comprehension of the coin finishes.

The Silver Eagle coin collection is available only for collectors and not meant for market circulation and trading. They can be purchased straight from the US mint.

Earlier when the silver eagle coins were launched, individuals were not allowed to purchase from the mint. Instead they had to purchase from certified coin dealers or precious metals manufacturers.

Perhaps the most desired and valuable coin in the collection is from the limited edition set of the 1955 era. The 1995 ” W Proof American Silver Eagle is no longer available in the market for purchase.

This set contains the American gold coin in 1 ounce, half ounce, quarter ounce and the tenth of an ounce and the entire set was valued at less than $1000 and minted for only 125 collectors.

The fact that the American eagle coin collection is certified by the government gives the collector an assurance regarding the purity, value and weight of the coins in question. These coins are loaded by hand into the coin press and then they were stuck on specially burnished blanks that had the special mint mark for each coin.

Now the American silver eagle is credited as being the best selling silver coin collection of the world. Over 130 million have been sold since 1986 each one made from 100% pure silver guaranteed for by the sate.

The Capped Bust Silver Quarter was the immediate successors of the equally rare draped bust silver quarters which started minting in 1796. These silver quarters were first minted in 1815 and count among the rarest coins ever minted in the United States. These two particular silver quarter types were minted as a replacement for the Spanish two-reales coin circulating in the Americas at that time, by the fledging U.S. government.

The Capped Bust Silver Quarter carried the same design as the other coins, like the half dollar, minted during that time. Production of these quarters went on until 1838, and these coins together with the draped bust quarter, have been named by numismatists as the “Early Quarters” commanding premium prices among coin collectors.

Other key years to look out for when scouting for the Early Quarters are 1823, 1804 and 1796. Notably from 1804 onwards, the reverse side of the Early Quarters sported a bigger, “heraldic” eagle, suggestive of strength and power that collectors and numismatists appreciate over coins of earlier vintage which had smaller eagle designs.

It is a sound advice that before buying a Capped Bust Silver Quarter or any of the Early Quarters, the buyer must have an assurance that these items have certification of authenticity from reputable numismatist groups or associations like the ANACS, NGC, PCGS and ICG. Another is to deal only with reputable dealers.

A useful website for reference on the capped bust silver quarter can be found in the net. This site carries a legitimate eBay auction listing of Early Quarters and their key dates. Through this listing, a prospective buyer could check the trend of the pricing, and compare various price levels within years, comparative data that are useful to the serious collector or dedicated numismatist.

The Barber Silver Quarter coins are so valued by collectors because these are vintage editions. It is named after its designer, Charles E. Barber. These coins are also called the Liberty Head quarters which were first minted more than 100 years ago.

Consider yourself lucky of you have an 1896-S mintage of this quarter, for this is the most valuable of the lot. Still luckier are those who could get their hands on the Barber Dime which is one of the most treasured coins ever minted in the USA where but 24 coins were struck. There were only nine left of these very rare dimes which fetched for a whopping bonanza of close to 2 million US dollars in a fabled transaction two years ago.

There were 74 regular issues of the Barber Silver Quarter, none of which have the same reach as the pay-scale classification of the Barber Dime because the quarters offer no significant variations. Nevertheless, these quarters pose as a challenge to collectors because of the scarcity or low mintage of some coins that were struck in a particular year.

The quarters 1913-S mintage stands as among the most distinct with its 40,000 quarters issued, which went on the record as the lowest regular silver coin issue for the 20th century. The Barber Silver Quarter has a classic design which was drawn from ancient Greece and Rome inspirations. A Liberty head sporting a cap and wreath of laurel leaves is featured in the quarters obverse side.

The “Liberty” inscription in the images headband, which could rapidly wear out with handling of coins in circulation, is often the numismatists basis for determining the condition and intrinsic value of the circulated coins. The USAs original 13 states are honored in this quarter, represented by seven stars on the coins right and six on the left, with the ever-familiar “In God We Trust” motto appearing above.

Those devotees of the study or collection of currency and other members of the numismatic community will find their hearts warmed, knowing that the Silver Peace Dollar Coin issuance was inspired by their interesting and widespread hobby.The Peace Dollar was minted by the The U.S. Mint during a seven-year period, from 1921-1928.

Its inspiration originally came from a November 1918 article in The Numismatist, the official publication of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), which suggested the minting of a coin to mark the end of World War I and the triumph of democratic ideals.

This suggestion was further expounded at the ANA convention in Chicago in August 1920. It called for either a half-dollar or a dollar commemorative coin to provide ample space for a design showcasing liberty, prosperity, honor and democracy. US Treasury authorities, however, went a step further and issued the silver as a coin for general-public circulation.

The Silver Peace Dollar coin succeeded the Morgan dollar which was minted last in 1904. The Pittmann Act sponsored by Nevada Senator Key Pittmann enabled the minting of the Silver Peace Dollar, as this federal law authorized US sale of standard silver bullions the proceeds of which will used for minting new silver dollars.

The Peace Dollars designer was Anthony de Francisci who prominently rendered the word “PEACE” at the bottom of coins reverse side. The silver content of this coin is 0.77344, and it is the last silver dollar that was minted for US circulation.

There was brief minting of the Silver Peace Dollar coin in 1965 with the coins bearing the year 1964. For one reason or another, however, these coins were neither circulated to the public nor any of their examples released. The whole 1965 mintage was melted, perhaps along with the hopes of some avid numismatist and Peace coin collectors.

Some coin collectors have a desire for acquiring, as part of their treasured possessions, a collection of silver bullion coins with exotic animals as their icons. These collectors would for sure find great value in the Australian Silver Koala issued by the Perth Mint of Western Australia.

This particular mintage is a follow-through of the super successful introduction of the Australian Silver Kookaburra by the same mint in 1990 and the Australian Kangaroo in 1993 by the Royal Australian Mint. Having all three in coins should be a superb combination for a thematic animal-inspired silver bullion collection.

The Australian Silver Koala was first struck two years ago by the Pert Mint, which is famous for coins of excellent workmanship and innovative designs. The 1997 first year of mintage was an instant success as the koala whose image the coin bears is a well-loved creature the world over.

Numismatists of course will tell you that it would be erroneous to call this coin as the “Australian Silver Koala Bear,” although there is a certain rhyme to this term. The koala is scientifically classified under the genus Phascolarctos, which is rooted from the Greek word “phaskolos,” for pouch, and the misleading “arktos,” for bear. The koala, however, is a marsupial, an arboreal or tree-dwelling animal found only in the tropical forests of Australia.

The jungle, nonetheless, is no place for the Australian Silver Koala, but would be more at home at some treasure chests. This collectors delight is a 1-oz coin made from 99.9% pure silver in a koala design that changes each year.

The latest edition has the image of a young koala clinging to a tree branch. The Perth Mint struck the 2008 mintage of the coin with a different design which features that of a mother koala perched on a tree with a baby Phascolarctos at her back.

This 2008 mint also has a gold coin edition in addition to the silver standard, firmly establishing that there is indeed alot of treasures to be found Down Under!

The Australian Silver Kookaburra should enchant both the coin collector and numismatist alike. Collectors who look upon birds as their theme specialty will be happy to know that this silver coin conveys the image of the local Australian bird kookaburra furrowed in relief.

This bird is a land-based member of kingfisher family which is classified under the genus Dacelo. This large kingfisher is most peculiar for its loud bird call akin to good-natured human laughter. This pleasant disposition of the bird plus the fact that it is found only in Australia are perhaps the main reasons why the Perth Mint in Australia decided to honor the Kookaburra in a silver coin.

The Australian Silver Kookaburra first came out of the Perth Mint at Western Australia in 1990. An introduction which many numismatists must have already taken careful note of as this coin is already nearing its 20th year continuous mintage. The Kookaburra is minted in four sizes with its 32.5 oz. (1-kilo) version consider as one of the largest government-issued silver bullion coins in the world. This coin, which also comes in sizes of 10 oz., 2 oz. and 1 oz., is legal tender, with the 1-kilo size having a face value of 30 Australian dollars.

The Australian Silver Kookaburra has 32.151 troy ounces of silver of 99.99% purity, making it a prized addition to coin collections. Characteristic of Australian bullion coins, the image of Queen Elizabeth graces the head of the Silver Kookaburra. The design of the Kookaburra featured on the reverse side changes every year of minting, a subtle theme variation that should whet the interest of many coin collectors. The 2007 Silver Kookaburra, for instance, has already won the affection of many avid numismatists.

This one features the amiable kookaburra hovering over a twig half-sunken in water, one artistic rendering that should enhance the coins value year after year.