DOINews: New ‘America the Beautiful' Quarters Feature National Parks

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar joined U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios and U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy in unveiling the first five “America the Beautiful” quarters. The quarters feature America's four oldest national parks – Hot Springs, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Grand Canyon – and Mount Hood National Forest.

The five quarters are the first of 56 that the U.S. Mint will issue between 2010 and 2021. They will include 48 National Park Service sites, two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sites, and six USDA Forest Service sites.

The U.S. Mint will issue the coins sequentially, in the order in which the featured location was first placed under the care of the federal government. Hot Springs National Park was established as Hot Springs Reservation in 1832 and later became a national park. Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872, followed by Yosemite in 1890 and the Grand Canyon in 1893.

Each coin in the America the Beautiful series features a common obverse (heads side) with the 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan. Inscriptions are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR. Descriptons of the images on the reverse side of the first five quarters follow:

• Hot Springs Quarter —The image on the reverse (tails side) of the Hot Springs National Park quarter depicts the facade of the Hot Springs National Park headquarters building with a fountain in the foreground. The headquarters was built in the Spanish colonial revival style and completed in 1936. The National Park Service emblem is featured to the right of the door. Inscriptions are HOT SPRINGS, ARKANSAS, 2010 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
• Yellowstone National Park Quarter—The image on the reverse of the Yellowstone National Park quarter features the Old Faithful geyser with a mature bull bison in the foreground. Inscriptions are YELLOWSTONE, WYOMING, 2010 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
• Yosemite National Park Quarter—The image on the reverse of the Yosemite National Park quarter depicts the iconic El Capitan, which rises more than 3,000 feet above the valley floor and is the largest monolith of granite in the world. Inscriptions are YOSEMITE, CALIFORNIA, 2010 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
• Grand Canyon National Park Quarter—The image on the reverse of the Grand Canyon National Park quarter features a view of the granaries above the Nankoweap Delta in Marble Canyon near the Colorado River. Marble Canyon is the northernmost section of the Grand Canyon. Granaries were used for storing food and seeds (A.D. 500). Inscriptions are GRAND CANYON, ARIZONA, 2010 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
  
• Mount Hood National Forest Quarter—The image on the reverse of the Mount Hood National Forest quarter depicts a view of Mount Hood with Lost Lake in the foreground. Inscriptions are MOUNT HOOD, OREGON, 2010 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
  

Congress authorized the America's Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008 to celebrate the nation's legacy of conservation. The legislation recalls noteworthy steps in the nation's preservation movement and quotes Theodore Roosevelt who said that nothing short of defending this country in wartime “compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendents than it is for us.”

Salazar and the U.S. Mint selected the places based on recommendations from the governor or chief executive of each jurisdiction. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner approved the list on August 25, 2009.

In addition to the coins for circulation, the Mint will produce collectable items including proof sets, silver proof sets, a five ounce silver bullion coin, coin bags, and coin rolls for each quarter. For more information about the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, please visit the U.S Mint website.