Thousands of people (the balcony was full of kids) showed up at the launch of the Massachusetts America The Beautiful quarter. I went with little expectations. I was surprised at the pomp and circumstance. This is the first ATB for 2019 and the 46th overall. Alabama will be the 56th and final release in early 2021. The 50 states, Washington DC and the 5 US Territories are represented (look here: THIS LINK ). The coin itself is quite nice. The design honors the female workers specific to Lowell, Massachusetts mills. The ceremony was as much about women and their place in the work force of historical America as much as about the ATB quarter. The people who spoke kept it short and eloquent. Marc Landry, the Associate Director of the Numismatic and Bullion Directorate at The Mint was the only male on the stage. The audience was primarily kids under 10 (YAY! SCHOOL TRIP!). Some high school kids were there too - a few spoke at the podium. There was a high school honor guard (to start the whole thing) and high school band. All in all, pretty impressive. This is the only one of these that I have been to. Has anyone been to one of these? Are they all like this?
I haven't been to one, but my dad went to the one for the Homestead ATB Quarter in Nebraska. Your experience sounds about the same as what his was. He was able to pick up a few rolls of the new quarters there as well.
It seems that a special "Release Ceremony" became popular with the issuance of the State Quarters and even the Westward Journey Nickels. While I have never had the opportunity to attend one, I was able to contact friends in different locales who were then able to buy rolls of the Westward Journey Nickels (at face value) for me at these celebrations. Were rolls of this ATB available for sale? Were you able to buy any of the rolls? Chris
They gave each school kid a quarter in a container. They were selling a set - may have been the PDS 9.95 - in the lobby. And a local bank would exchange a roll of (probably P) quarters for a 10 dollar bill (max of 10 rolls). I think they stamped those rolls so you could tell it was a roll from this event. I bought nothing myself. Here is a picture of the lobby - the table near the center of the picture is where they were selling the set. Off to the left, out of the picture is where the bank was exchanging $10 for a roll. EDIT: BTW, this was at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium - not far from the Lowell National Historical Park. A perfect venue for this close to the mill area.
I live in Fla. but didn't know anything about the Fla. ceremony. So I was going to go to the one in Ga. last summer, but I had a death in the family that squelched that plan. I'd really like to go to one. Looks like it'd be very interesting!
Wow, Meow would love to be at an event like that. Especially since you could get special rolls at face value too. What does the special roll look like? Is there a picture somewhere?
Oh, and speaking of ATB rolls. Meow has seen ATB roll of all years wrapped in different ways. Seen Smokey the Bear ones, Postage stamped ones, Resident Roll ones, thick clear plastic encased ones. And of course the black or yellow US Mint ones, along with the typical orange OBW ones. Do the ceremony ones have a special wrapping? Meow would be happy, even just getting the ceremony brochure as a keepsake. Just more to add to the Cat hoard!
Anyone find a better price than this? please share links im trying to really get it worth my while https://bullionexchanges.com/2019-5-oz-silver-atb-massachusetts-lowell-national-historical-park-coin
I buy the "P" 5 ounce coins direct from the Mint. The only non "P" I bought were the initial release (many years ago) of these 5 oz'ers and once from a Local Coin Store for a price I couldn't pass up. Your link price is about $4/oz over spot. Check a local dealer (if you have one) - they might beat that price.
Not to my knowledge. Some of the Westward Journey Nickels came in blue & white wrappers from N.F. String or Security Armored Express, and some of the blue & white wrappers were unmarked. It's just a guess on my part, but the Mint might have shipped the ballistic bags to whichever facility was closest to the location of the ceremony. Chris