2021-S Alabama Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site Quarter GEM SILVER PROOF America the Beautiful

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We are pleased to offer for sale this 2021-S  Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site National Park Silver Quarter in GEM PROOF condition from the US Mint's America the Beautiful Quarters Program. This Quarter comes from the San Francisco (S) Mint. The Alabama National Park Quarter is the fifty-fifth release in the America the Beautiful Quarters Series. The Alabama Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site is featured fifty-fifth because it was established as a National Historic Park on November 12, 1996 by the NPS (National Park Service), the fifty-fifth national reservation in United States history.

Information on the Alabama Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site:

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, commemorates the contributions of African-American airmen in World War II. Moton Field was the site of primary flight training for the pioneering pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen, and is now operated by the National Park Service to interpret their history and achievements. It was constructed in 1941 as a new training base. The field was named after former Tuskegee Institute principal Robert Russa Moton, who died the previous year.

Before 1940, African Americans were barred from flying for the U.S. military. Civil rights organizations and the black press exerted pressure that resulted in the formation of an all African-American pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1941. They became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

"Tuskegee Airmen" refers to all who were involved in the so-called "Tuskegee Experiment," the Army Air Corps program to train African Americans to fly and maintain combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff, instructors, and all the personnel who kept the planes in the air.

The military selected Tuskegee Institute to train pilots because of its commitment to aeronautical training. Tuskegee had the facilities, and engineering and technical instructors, as well as a climate for year-round flying. The first Civilian Pilot Training Program students completed their instruction in May 1940. The Tuskegee program was then expanded and became the center for African-American aviation during World War II.

The Tuskegee Airmen overcame segregation and prejudice to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II. They proved conclusively that African Americans could fly and maintain sophisticated combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen's achievements, together with the men and women who supported them, paved the way for full integration of the U.S. military.

Information on the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Program:

From 2010 through 2021 the US Mint is issuing commemorative quarters with special reverse designs celebrating National Parks and other National Sites. A park or site is being honored in each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia and the five US Territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Alabama, and Northern Mariana Islands. Each National Park or National Site was selected for its natural or historical significance. The National Park Quarters are being minted and issued at the rate of 5 designs a year, in approximately ten week intervals. The National Park Quarters are being released in the order that the locations were first designated as National Sites. The Obverse side of the coins feature a smaller restoration of the original Washington Quarter portrait, modeled from designer John Flanagan's 1932 plaster. The Reverse of each coin will feature a representation of the unique character and environment of each State, District, or Territory's National Park or Historic Site.

Circulation strikes will be made at the Philadelphia (P) and Denver (D) Mints (starting in 2012 circulation strikes were also minted at the San Francisco (S) Mint). The San Francisco (S) mint will strike the Proofs in clad composition and silver. Clad composition strikes contain an outer layer of 75% copper and 25% nickel bonded to an inner core of pure copper with a 24.33 mm diameter, 5.67 grams weight, and a reeded edge. The silver strikes will contain 99.9% Silver, with a diameter of 24.26mm and a mass of 6.343 grams with a reeded edge.