America the Beautiful

Following the U.S. Mint’s popular American States and Territories program ending in 2009, a new America the Beautiful Quarters Program was begun with the first minted coins being shipped in April 2010. This has been a much anticipated program by coin collectors, with the planned release of five different quarters scheduled for each year until 2021. A total of 56 unique coins will be minted, each with the obverse (heads side) depicting the familiar 1932 portrait of George Washington created by John Flanagan. Each of these America the Beautiful coins will also be inscribed on the obverse with the words:

• UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• LIBERTY
• IN GOD WE TRUST
• QUARTER DOLLAR

The reverse (tails side) of each of the coins in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program depicts a scene relating to a National Park or National Site being honored. This includes locations in each of the 50 states as well as locations in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Marian Islands, American Samoa and Puerto Rico. This brings the total number of coins to 56, with minting and release dates decided by the dates that the locations depicted became officially recognized as National Parks or Historic Sites.

With each year seeing the release of five separate coins in the National Historic Site and National Park Coins collection, we’re currently in the fifth year of releases, scheduled to continue for another 6+ years. The very first coin released, which came out on April 19, 2010, depicted Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas. This location has the distinction of being the first ever piece of land to be set aside by the U.S. government strictly for public use. This occurred on April 20, 1832. The second coin released, taking place on June 1, 2010, depicts Yellowstone National Park, located in the state of Wyoming. This was followed by coins depicting Yosemite National Park (California), Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona) and Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon.

This year’s (2014) quarters include:

• Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains Nat’l Park
• Virginia’s Shenandoah Nat’l Park
• Utah’s Arches Nat’l Park
• Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes Nat’l Park
• Florida’s Everglades Nat’l Park

In addition to the standard America the Beautiful coins, the U.S. Mint is also releasing a limited edition America the Beautiful Silver Coins collection, comprised of .999 fine, pure silver coins.