2015 America the Beautiful Quarter
Coins featuring Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge
The America the Beautiful Quarters program followed the success of the 50 State Quarters program. Introduced in 2010, the America the Beautiful quarters depict national parks or sites and continued until 2021. The reverse of each coin celebrates a national park or other national site and shares a border design displaying the state, the year, the park, and the phrase “E PLURIBUS UNUM.” Like the State Quarters program, Delaware Rep. Mike Castle introduced the legislation that approved this series.
Five designs were released each year in the order that the parks were established. The decision to feature the 16,000-acre Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge, near Symrna, DE, was made five years before the quarters were issued when the program was established. Most of the quarters in the series feature a national park, but Delaware did not have one until 2014 when the First State National Historical Park was established.
Bombay Hook, one of the largest tidal salt marshes in the mid-Atlantic, was established in 1937 as a link in the chain of refuges for migrating birds extending from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. It received its name from the Dutch phrase "Boompjes Hoeck,” which sounds similar to Bombay Hook in English. The phrase translates to “little-tree point.” It was the southernmost boundary of the New Sweden settlement during the 17th century when the Dutch took control.
The Bombay Hook quarter was the first Delaware coin designed as part of the Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program. Artist Joel Iskowitz designed the coin and Phebe Hemphill, a mint engraver, sculpted it. When the designs were presented to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee on Feb. 11, 2014, the official recommendation to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew was design BH-01 (below), which featured a great blue heron with a fish in its beak. All of the designs featured migratory birds that can be found at Bombay Hook at different times throughout the year.
As we now know, BH-06 was the ultimate selection. It still features a great blue heron but also includes an egret in the background. Featuring two birds creates a wonderful depth not possible with a single focal point. Both birds are common in the summer.
In addition to the quarters, the Mint produced 5 oz bullion silver coins with two finishes. These are 3 inches in diameter. Only the burnished coin, which has a matte finish, has a mint mark. The matte finish results from a vapor blasting process similar to sandblasting. Both were minted in Philadelphia. Instead of a reeded edge, like standard quarters, the edge is marked with “.999 FINE SILVER 5.0 OUNCE.” Even though it’s much larger than a standard quarter, it is legal tender in the US.
Beginning in 2012, the San Francisco Mint began producing the first circulation-strike quarters since 1954. These were only available directly from the US Mint. Unless someone bought them and put them into circulation by spending them, you’re unlikely to find them in circulation. But this gives collectors an extra coin to search for when completing their collections.
In 2019, sadly after the Bombay Hook quarter’s introduction, the Mint also produced America the Beautiful Series quarters at the West Point Mint. These were released into circulation without fanfare. It was an effort to increase interest in collecting coins. 2 million of each design was released, a small fraction (less than 1%) of the circulating coins. These are only available by finding them in circulation or buying them from someone who found them. They were not sold by the Mint directly and they were not available in mint sets.
Another Obverse change
The obverse portrait of George Washington was modified again for the America the Beautiful series quarters. It more closely resembles John Flanagan’s original. The only differences are that it’s slightly smaller and has lower relief. The rest of the design matches the changes introduced with the State Quarters program. Since William Cousins’ changes were effectively undone his initials were removed.
Another change made after the State Quarters series officially ended was the introduction of laser-frosted devices for the proof quarters. This appears to have started in 2009, prior to the introduction of the America the Beautiful series, but it explains the difference you see in the examples above. Previously, proofs were made by masking the fields, to keep the mirror-like finish of the fields, before sandblasting the dies with glass beads to enhance the devices. The current process uses lasers to make tiny pits on the surface to create the frosted cameo effect. Some collectors complained after this process was introduced that it diminished the details. It doesn’t, technically. The light is diffracted more which visually softens the details. You can see the diferences in the examples above.
Availability
Like the Delaware state quarter, these can still be found in circulation. Except of course for the quarters minted in San Francisco. All of these quarters are an affordable addition to any collection. Plan to spend about $200 - $400 each on the 5 oz silver coins. If the 5 oz coin is graded, expect to pay on the higher end of that scale.
Mintages and Coin information - America the Beautiful, Bombay Hook Quarters:
2015-P Quarter Mintage: 275,000,000 (PCGS Number: 542973, Greysheet ID: 77757)
2015-S Clad Proof Quarter: 762,407 (PCGS: 537583, GSID: 77829)
2015-S Silver Proof Quarter: 490,829 (PCGS: 539699, GSID: 77830)
Clad coins (circulation & proof): weight 5.67 grams; composition, outer layers of copper-nickel (.750 copper, .250 nickel) bonded to an inner core of pure copper.
Silver proof: weight 6.25 grams; composition .900 silver, .100 copper
Diameter 24.3 mm; reeded edge; mints - Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco
Mintages and Coin information - 5 oz America the Beautiful Bullion Coins:
2015(P) 5-oz. Silver Bullion: 45,000 (PCGS Number: 545550*, Greysheet ID: 74111)
2015-P 5-oz. Silver Bullion Burnished: 17,309 (PCGS: 545560, GSID: 76828)
Silver bullion coins: weight 5.0 ounces; composition .999 silver, .001 copper
Diameter 3 inches; lettered edge; mint - Philadelphia
* There are three varieties of this coin recognized by PCGS: MS (Mint State), PL (Proof-Like), and DMPL (Deep Mirror Proof-Like). The number provided is for the DMPL.