On March 24, 2010 the United States Mint announced the official release date for the first of fifty-six new designs that will grace the reverse of the twenty-five cent piece. These new quarter designs pick up where the District of Columbia and U.S. territories installments left off at the end of 2009.
The District of Columbia and Territories Program was itself a continuation of the U.S. State Quarter Program that was a runaway hit with coin collectors across the country. According to US Mint director Ed Moy, over 147 million people got involved collecting the different state quarters (www.usmint.gov).
New Quarter for Each State in America the Beautiful Program
Now, collectors should be thrilled to hear that the new America the Beautiful Quarters Program will feature images representing national parks and natural wonders and will run for over a decade, surpassing the length of the state quarters and territories program that lasted from 1999 to 2009.
One national park or site from each of the fifty states and also from each of the United States territories will be featured throughout the series.
Every year, five new quarters will enter circulation. The designs will be released in the order in which the featured site was recognized as a national park or site, much in the same way that the previous quarters were released in the order that each state became part of the United States. This schedule of five new releases per year will continue until the year 2021.
Five New Quarter Designs in 2010
- The first design will enter circulation on April 19, 2010 and will feature a fountain from Hot Springs National Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
- Design number two, which debuts in June, honors Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and features the famous geyser Old Faithful.
- Shortly thereafter, a new design depicting El Capitan – a 3,000 foot high rock formation in Yosemite National Park – will begin circulating in July.
- The Grand Canyon is represented in the following release, which will find its way to collectors in September.
- The final release for 2010, which will arrive in November, features Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon.
Each design will be branded with either a ‘P’ or a ‘D’ to indicate the Philadelphia or Denver Mint where the quarter originated. Therefore, a total of ten coins will enter circulation each year – two mints for each design. The obverse, or ‘heads’ side, of the coins will remain the same and feature the portrait of President George Washington.
Jason Schneider - Jason has a bachelor's degree in English and would like to continue writing to prove that he made the right decision in choosing that ...
Join the Conversation