Yellowstone National Park – 1999

The 125^th Anniversary of the Founding of Yellowstone Park

In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant established Yellowstone National Park as America’s first national park. In 1997, the park observed the 125^th anniversary of its opening but two years later, Congress was ready to belatedly honor the anniversary. Congress authorized a Silver Dollar for the occasion and the surcharges on the coins would be used by Yellowstone National Park and by the National Park Foundation.

Coin designer Edgar Z. Steever IV designed the obverse of the coin which depicts one of the numerous geysers in the park. While not identified on the coin as “Old Faithful,” which is one of the park’s most well-known attractions, it represents all of the different and numerous geysers there. To the left of the geyser are the words “IN GOD WE TRUST” while below the geyser are “LIBERTY” and “1999”. The upper periphery has the name “YELLOWSTONE” in large font.

The reverse, meanwhile, was adapted from the Department of the Interior’s seal and it pictures an equally famous symbol of Yellowstone National Park – an American Bison. William C. Cousins was the designer and the Bison faces are left with the sun rising in the background above the mountains. Below the bison is “E PLURIBUS UNUM” while the upper periphery has “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” and the lower periphery has the denomination “ONE DOLLAR.”

The Yellowstone Commemorative Silver Dollars were issued in both Uncirculated and Proof conditions, both at the Philadelphia Mint. The coins were sold individually and also as a two-coin set. The maximum authorized mintage was 500,000 silver dollars.

The Uncirculated examples sold 82,563 coins while the Proof specimens sold 187,595, so slightly over one-half of the authorized mintage was struck and sold.

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