Gettysburg, Glacier, Vicksburg Among National Park Units To be Honored With Quarters

The U.S. Mint will issue commemorative quarters for Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Gettysburg National Military Park, Glacier National Park, Olympic National Park, and Vicksburg National Military Park in 2011. U.S. Mint images.

For 25 cents you'll soon be able to put Glacier National Park in your pocket. Or Olympic National Park, Gettysburg National Military Park, Vicksburg National Military Park, or Chickasaw National Recreation Area, for that matter.

Those five units of the National Park System will be honored by the U.S. Mint next year with commemorative quarters of their very own. They represent the second set of coins in its America the Beautiful Quarters Program.

The Gettysburg quarter reverse design depicts the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Monument, which is located on the battle line of the Union Army at Cemetery Ridge. Inscriptions are GETTYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, 2011 and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The coin’s reverse was designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill.

The Glacier quarter reverse design depicts a classic view of the northeast slope of Mount Reynolds towering in the distance, while a mountain goat clambers over the rocky slopes of the park’s high country. Inscriptions are GLACIER, MONTANA, 2011 and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The coin’s reverse was designed by AIP Associate Designer Barbara Fox and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Charles Vickers.

The Olympic quarter reverse design depicts a Roosevelt elk standing on a gravel river bar of the Hoh River with a view of Mount Olympus in the background. Inscriptions are OLYMPIC, WASHINGTON, 2011 and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The coin’s reverse was designed by AIP Master Designer Susan Gamble and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Michael Gaudioso.

The Vicksburg quarter reverse design depicts the U.S.S. Cairo on the Yazoo River as it would have been seen when it served the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. Inscriptions are VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI, 2011 and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The coin’s reverse was designed by AIP Master Designer Thomas Cleveland and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Joseph Menna.

The Chickasaw quarter design depicts the Lincoln Bridge, built of limestone and dedicated in 1909 to celebrate the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. The bridge was the first constructed improvement in the national recreation area and a favorite scenic spot. Inscriptions are CHICKASAW, OKLAHOMA, 2011 and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The reverse was designed by AIP Master Designer Donna Weaver and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Jim Licaretz.

Each coin in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program features a common obverse (heads side) with the 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan, restored to bring out subtle details and the beauty of the original model. Inscriptions on the obverse are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.

The United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Program is a multi-year initiative authorized by the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008. The act directs the United States Mint to mint and issue 56 circulating quarter-dollar coins with reverse designs emblematic of a national park or other national site in each state, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories—the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The quarters are being released in the order in which the featured site was first established as a national park or site. The designs will rotate five times each year through 2020, with the final coin being released in 2021.

The United States Mint issued the first five coins in the program this year, with reverse designs honoring the Hot Springs National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, Grand Canyon National Park and Mount Hood National Forest.