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U.S. Mint Plans New Quarters Featuring National Parks

Originally Published in MotorHome Magazine

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hot Springs, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Grand
Canyon National Parks will be the first sites commemorated in a new
quarter-dollar program announced today (Sept. 9) by the U.S. Mint.

Starting in April 2010, the America the Beautiful Quarters Program
will begin producing quarters with reverse (tails side) designs
showcasing a national park or other federally preserved area from each
state, U.S. territory and the District of Columbia.

“The new quarter program recognizes that public places of
inspiration and recreation have always been important to Americans,”
said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “The quarters highlight the
diversity and magnificence of 48 National Park Service sites and two
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges cared for by the Department of
the Interior as well as six national forests administered by the
Department of Agriculture.

Hopefully the coins will encourage people to learn more about each area and its significance to our heritage.”

A new quarter will be introduced about every 10 weeks for 11 years.
The 56 coins will be issued sequentially in the order in which the
featured location was first placed under the care of the federal
government.

The first, 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.

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 United States 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
collectible items including proof sets, silver proof sets, a 5-ounce
silver bullion coin, coin bags, and coin rolls for each quarter. For
more information about the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, visit
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/NSQuartersProgram/index.cfm. 

 

 From National Park Service  

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