LITTLE ROCK — At 10 a.m. today, Hot Springs will be the center of the coin-collecting universe.
Officials expect at least 2,000 numismatists, also known as coin collectors, to roll into the Spa City for the ceremonial release of the new Hot Springs quarter.
The event, which U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy plans to attend, is expected to attract a big enough crowd of hard-core coin junkies that officials are going to block off sections of Central Avenue and Reserve Street before and after the ceremony outside the Hot Springs National Park’s administration building.
“It’s a big event. I won’t be surprised if they get double [2,000 people],” said Allen Grimmett, who operates an online coin and bullion business out of Little Rock. “Right now, this is what’s hot.”
The new coin is the first installment of the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, a Mint initiative that will honor national sites such as parks, forests, and wildlife refuges in all 50 states, five U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.
The Mint is releasing 56 quarters - five new designs per year and one in 2021 - in the order in which the featured sites were first preserved by the government.
Between now and then, these are the only new quarters the Mint will produce.
The Hot Springs Reservation - what later became Hot Springs National Park - was set aside for preservation on April 20, 1832, exactly 178 years ago to the day.
The designation came 40 years before Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming - the second site that will be honored on a quarter - got federal recognition in 1872.
Over the next 10 weeks, anywhere from 25 million to 1 billion of the Hot Springs quarters should be produced, depending on the needs of the economy, officials said.
Hot Springs National Park Superintendent Josie Fernandez said the event is great exposure for the area.
“My hope is that everyone in the nation ends up with a Hot Springs quarter in their pocket,” Fernandez said. “Once they take a look at it, they’ll begin to think of us as a destination place to come and visit and experience the waters for which we are famous.”
The Hot Springs quarter’s tails side features the facade of the Hot Springs National Park headquarters with a hot spring fountain in the foreground.
The heads side of the coin will picture the common 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan.
Mint spokesman Gordon Hume said the Hot Springs quarters were released into general circulation Monday.
Today’s event is attractive to collectors, however, because it offers an opportunity to purchase quarter rolls at the ceremonial launch.
Serious collectors often affix a postal stamp to each roll and then have the stamp postmarked at a local post office to verify the date and location of the purchase.
Mint employees will exchange between $10 and $100 worth of $10 quarter rolls per person at the event.
“It’s a big deal for a lot of collectors,” Hume said. “They take a lot of pride in being able to get those first-day issues.”
Gene Johnson, host of the annual Tri-Lakes Coin Club Coin Show in Hot Springs, said he’s publicized the launch event with collectors across the state.
He predicted a solid turnout from numismatists - a word whose root comes from the Latin word for coin - from across the Natural State.
Johnson said coin collecting has become much more popular on the heels of the Mint’s successful 50 States Quarters Program, which ran from 1999 to 2008.
It’s estimated that 147 million people collected the 50 States quarters.
“We’ve just received so many phone calls,” Fernandez said. “The other day I had to chuckle because there is a group of people getting in a bus and coming in from New Jersey.”
Grimmett, the collector who operates the Web site www.agcoinbullion.com, expects some to visit Hot Springs today for profiteering purposes.
A $10 roll of Delaware quarters - the first coins produced during the 50 States program - sells for $13 to $14 now, he said. That’s a 30 percent to 40 percent increase in value in only 11 years.
A $10 roll of Georgia quarters - some of the rarer coins produced from the 50 States campaign - sells for about $40.
Grimmett guessed that a $10 Hot Springs quarter roll with a stamp and postmark from Hot Springs today would sell for $40 to $50 a roll on the Internet initially.
“It’ll die down as time goes on, but I guarantee you there will be some for sale that night,” he said. “People love the idea of owning something rare.”
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 04/20/2010