In its first six days of sales, the Mint sold 11,391 El Yunque quarters sets. That exceeded the start of the previous issue in the three-coin set series, which was the Chickasaw set that started with 10,483 in December. Read the entire story here.

The fact that we’ve seen so many quarter-related headlines begged the question in-house: Are you or someone you know collecting the America the Beautiful quarters?

And, just for kicks, we took it outside to our Facebook audience. If you haven’t “Liked” us yet, do it now to answer the poll.

The answers may surprise us.

In addition to the launch ceremony, the United States Mint will host a coin forum where the public will have an opportunity to ask questions and share their ideas about the future of the nation’s coinage. The forum will be held Monday, January 24 at 5:30 p.m. ET in the Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. 

The America the Beautiful Quarters Program is authorized by Public Law 110-456, a 12-year initiative to honor 56 national parks and other national sites. Each year, the public will see five new quarters with reverse (tails side) designs emblematic of each featured national site. The United States Mint is issuing the quarters in the order in which the honored site was first established as a national site. The first five coins in the program were issued last year.

The United States Mint today announced the America the Beautiful Quarters Bulk Purchase Program. The minimum purchase requirement under the program is one (1) bulk bag, which contains 200,000 coins with a total value of $50,000. A three percent processing fee of $1,500 per bulk bag will be applied to each order to offset the cost of the program. In addition to the processing fee, purchasers must arrange for pickup from either the United States Mint at Philadelphia or at Denver. A properly licensed commercial carrier is required to retrieve the coins. 

I can’t speak for everyone here, but my immediate reaction was, “Get out!” 

Well, I apologize. Apparently it’s not a joke. It’s a genuine program, and you can read all about it on the Mint’s Web site.

Here’s a portion of the Mint’s Q and A page regarding the program:

How do I pay for the coins?
The quarters may be paid for only by bank wire funds transfer.

Are there any special requirements for pickup?
A properly licensed commercial carrier is required to pick up coinage from the United States Mint. The company must arrange clearance from the United States Mint facility for the truck and driver prior to establishing a pickup date.

To be fair, the Mint is making an effort to circulate the new quarters.

According to the Mint’s Web site, “Recent economic conditions have led to an oversupply of prior year-dated quarters in the banking system. As a result, businesses relying solely on the banking system may be unable to obtain large quantities of America the Beautiful Quarters coins on a regular basis. This program provides an option to those interested in obtaining America the Beautiful Quarters in volume.”

Well, recent economic conditions have also forced small businesses to make some difficult choices. But asking them to pay $51,500 plus shipping for 200,000 modern quarters?

Get out!

It seems like a decade since I completed my state quarters set (down to the U.S. territories and Washington, D.C.), but it’s only been four months. December feels as long ago as the last election, and I admit to being at loose ends.

Without an active goal, with no coin set to work on, I found myself browsing the Internet, working my way through several bags of those 100-calorie snacks, reading with some interest about healthcare reform, skimming an article about French cheese.

I was absentmindedly surfing, not really paying attention, when I stumbled across a release on one of the news sites–something about quarters celebrating the U.S. national parks. Put down the munchies, boys and girls!

According to the U.S. Mint, the America the Beautiful Quarters Program will release five quarters a year (approximately one every 10 weeks!) depicting a national park or site from each of the U.S. states, territories and Washington, D.C.

Turns out I’m good to go for the next 12 years. And I can toss the diet snacks … even though those yogurt-covered pretzels are really good.