National Park Quarters: 56 Coins To Be Released Over 11 Years
It looks like the United States quarter dollar will continue being used as a canvas for many new coin designs for years to come.
The U.S. Mint has announced that in 2010, another new quarter series will begin.
This new series, called the National Park Quarters, will honor landmark locations in each of the 50 states.
The New National Park Quarters
The National Park Quarters series is poised to be an even more ambitious program than the 50 state quarters series.
Plans set forth so far call for 56 coins over the course of 11 years, with 5 different designs being struck each year of the program. This would include one design for:
- each of the 50 states
- the 5 territories
- and the District of Columbia
However, the wording in America's Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act (H.R.6184), which President George W. Bush signed into law on December 23, 2008, actually allows the program to renew for a second time. That means the nation will have ever-changing quarter designs until at least 2021, and perhaps into the 2030s!
If the popularity of the 50 state quarter series was any indication of how a coin series with ever-changing designs can excite the public, then there is a wonderful chance that the National Park Quarter series will inspire a whole new generation of coin collectors.
National Park Quarter Designs
The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee has recommended replacing George Washington with an image of President Theodore Roosevelt during the National Park Quarter program's run.
This is not a surprising suggestion, especially since Roosevelt was a pioneer in setting aside massive amounts of land to preserve our nation's forests and wildlife.
As of now, plans still call for the Washington design to remain on the obverse (head's side) of the quarter, but the movement to place Roosevelt on the obverse may continue to gain steam.
The Look Of U.S. Quarters After This Series Ends
You may be curious about what design will appear on the U.S. quarter after the National Park Quarter series has been completed.
So far, plans are to return to the same portrait of Washington that appeared on the quarter before the 50 State Quarters design in 1999.
However, the heraldic eagle that so proudly adorned the reverse (tail's side) from 1932 to 1998 may never fly on the quarter again. Rather, a design showing Washington crossing the Delaware River before the Battle of Trenton is slated to become the reverse image once the National Park Quarter series ends.
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