The America the Beautiful Quarters Program is, thematically speaking, one of the most clever coin programs to have been implemented by the United States Mint. With the Michael Jordan of coin programs ending in 2008 with the Statehood Quarter Program and the quick turn around they had with the shortlived D.C. and U.S. Territories Quarters, the Mint was tasked with coming up with something that would be just as great as its predecessors.
In a 12-year, 56-quarter ongoing series initiative honoring America’s most cherished national parks and sites, the America the Beautiful Quarter Program was born. But alongside the quarter dollars would come a very specific section of the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Act of 2008 that would more than raise a few eyebrows. Long story short, the introduction of five-ounce quarters would come into play.
In the fourth edition of Whitman Publishing’s Top 100 United States Modern Coins publication, a first-year issue five-ounce quarter is listed by authors Scott Schecter and Jeff Garrett with the influence of some of the top coin dealers in the country. We will take a deeper look at this coin and why it lands where it does among all the others on the list.
#93 - 2010-P Grand Canyon 5oz Silver Quarter, Light Finish
In ‘Section 201. Silver Bullion Coin’ of the legislation introduced in 2008, the previously said raised eyebrows come into the picture. It reads as follows:
IN GENERAL.---The Secretary shall strike and make available for sale such number of bullion coins as the Secretary determines to be appropriate that are exact duplicates of the quarter dollars issued under subsection (t), each of which shall-- have a diameter of 3.0 inches and weigh 5.0 ounces; contain .999 fine silver
Little did everyone know that the legislation enacted would bring so much frustration about at the Mint as little attention was given to just how these five-ounce replicas would be produced and distributed. That is where the “looks good on paper, but...” theory comes in that was mentioned in the last edition of this blog series. Frustrations aside though, these brand new coins would excite many collectors.
The 2010-P Grand Canyon 5oz Silver Quarter reverse was designed by Phebe Hemphill. It features a view above the Nankoweap Delta in Marble Canyon near the Colorado River. The obverse depicts John Flanagan’s design of the Washington Quarter that was originally issued in 1932. Unlike its same year releases, the Grand Canyon coins featured a number of different textures when it came to the finish. This, in turn, caused a slightly reflective finish instead of its typical matte finish. The reflective finish was then deemed a ‘light finish’ and was easy to distinguish. It was estimated, according to Whitman’s publication, that 15% ended up being light finish.
As these special varieties were named and recognized by various grading companies, the United States Mint would go on to claim that the cause of this finish would be due to the wear on the equipment “that had been retrofitted to apply the granular finish to the Grand Canyon bullion coins.” The Mint would then order new equipment that for the most part eliminated the problem when it came to the surface variations. Before it was all said and done though, of the 27,000 sold, around 4,000 would be deemed light finish.
While this coin was not on the list in the first edition of the publications, it has not moved its ranking since the second edition was released.