The United States Mint is gearing up for the April 8 release to public sale of the final Uncirculated America the Beautiful 5-ounce silver quarter dollar in the series, the 2021-P Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site coin.

The coin is the 56th issue in the 11-year series. The coin will be offered at the price of $229 per coin. The maximum release will be 20,000 coins.

While the U.S. Mint will release later in the year a second 2021 quarter dollar, the Gen. George Washington Crossing the Delaware coin, it will not be issued in any 5-ounce silver version, neither a bullion nor Mint-marked Uncirculated version, according to U.S. Mint spokesman Michael White.

The legislation authorizing the America the Beautiful quarter dollar program stipulated that those coins be produced also in the two 5-ounce silver versions — one as a bullion release available for direct purchase to authorized dealer buyers only, and the other as a collector version offered directly to the public.

The Washington Crossing the Delaware quarter dollar option, legislated for after the close of the America the Beautiful quarter program, had no 5-ounce silver coin stipulations.

The Tuskegee 5-ounce silver coin is also being produced at the Philadelphia Mint without Mint mark, as a bullion issue sold to authorized purchasers. The authorized purchasers buy the coins from the U.S. Mint based on the closing London P.M. spot price per troy ounce of silver plus a premium of $11.50 per coin. The coins may then be sold to other dealers, collectors and investors for a further markup above the bullion value.

The Uncirculated 5-ounce Mint-marked coin is struck on the same dedicated press used for the bullion version, though the bullion coin dies do not bear the facility’s Mint mark.

Before striking, the ready-to-strike planchets used for both versions often exhibit prooflike surfaces.

The Uncirculated version receives a post-strike finish from a machine that uses a water vapor and ceramic media mix. It is similar to sand blasting, but instead of using dry compressed air propelling particles at high speed, it uses a compressed wet vapor.

The finish is applied to each coin after striking, and not to the die. This provides a consistent coin-to-coin finish, the Mint states.

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