Glacier National Park is located in northwest Montana named for its prominent glacier-carved terrain. The rugged terrain has been a favorite for hikers and photographers. In 1895, Chief Whit Calf of the Blackfeet tribe sold the land to the United States government for $1.5 million with the provision that the Blackfeet could continue to hunt on the land and that the land be made public land. By 1910, President William Howard Taft signed the bill that made the land a national park.
The Glacier National Park Quarter was the second of 2011 and the seventh in the America The Beautiful Quarters Program.
According to the U.S. Mint, 31.2 million Glacier National Park Quarters were struck in Denver and 30.4 million were struck in Philadelphia. Prior to that, 347 million quarters were produced in 2010 and 61.2 million Gettysburg Park Quarters were produced prior to Glacier National Park.
After all this production and over a year-and-a-half into the program, I received my first National Parks Quarter in pocket change. The quarter was given to me in a local grocery store after an early evening venture to fill the pantry. I was pleasantly surprised to see finally find one in change.
I also was able to take two 2010 Native American Dollar Coins from the cashier as part of my change. I will spend them over the weekend hoping they will continue to circulate and not end up back in the Federal Reserve’s coin room.
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