Apr 20, 2010 | national park quarters, video
On the 178th anniversary of its establishment as a Federally protected national site, the U.S. Mint launched the America the Beautiful Quarters Program with the launch at the Hot Sprints National Park in Arkansas. The ceremony was held at the park’s headquarters lead by U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy who was joined by National Park Service Midwest Regional Director Ernie Quintana and Hot Springs National Park Superintendent Josie Fernandez.
“It’s fitting that Hot Springs National Park, among the early lands set aside by the federal government to protect natural and cultural resources, be the first featured in the United States Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters series,” Quintana said. “The release of this commemorative coin will bring about greater awareness of our national parks and emphasize the importance of continued protection and preservation of these natural, cultural and historical wonders for future generations.”
Hot Springs Reservation was initially created by an act of congress on April 20, 1832, the first area of the United States protected in this manner. Prior to the passage of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916, lands that congress wanted protected were named national reservations and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Hot Springs was made a national park on March 4, 1921.
If you missed the live broadcast of the release, the U.S. Mint has provided the following highlights:
The U.S. Mint also released the following “official” images from the quarter give away:
Video courtesy of the U.S. Mint
Still images courtesy of the AP Images for the U.S. Mint
Apr 18, 2010 | BEP, coins, currency, Federal Reserve, national park quarters, US Mint
In what has the potential to be an exciting week in numismatics, the US Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing will be introducing newly designed money to the public.
As part of the 2010 National Coin Week, on April 20, the U.S. Mint will launch the America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program with the release of the Hot Springs National Park Quarter. The ceremony will take place on the park’s 178th anniversary in front of the Administration Building at 10 A.M. Central Time (CT). A coin exchange will follow the event. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the web at americathebeautifulquarters.gov beginning at 9:55 A.M. (CT).
The United States Mint will hold a Coin Forum on Monday evening, April 19, at 5 P.M. (CT) at the Quapaw Bath House. The Coin Forum is an opportunity for the public to express their views about future coinage, and to learn about upcoming United States Mint coin programs and initiatives.
As part of the promotion for the launch, the US Mint has released B-Roll with images of the site, design footage showing the computer design of the coin, production footage including creating of the dies, and striking of the quarters.
Then, on April 21 in the Treasury Cash Room, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing will unveil a newly designed $100 Note. The U.S. government redesigns currency in order to stay ahead of counterfeiters and protect the public. The BEP has not previewed the new design.
The unveiling of the $100 note is the first step in a global multi-government agency public education program implemented by the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Secret Service, to educate those who use the $100 note about its changes before it begins circulating. The $100 note is the highest value denomination of U.S. currency in general circulation, and it circulates broadly around the world.
Program will begin at 10 A.M. Eastern Time (ET) and will include Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Ben Bernanke, Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios, Director of the United States Secret Service Mark Sullivan. Education and media materials, including the B-roll, will be available at www.newmoney.gov.
Hot Springs Quarter courtesy of the US Mint
Cash Room images courtesy of the US Department of the Treasury
Mar 25, 2010 | national park quarters, US Mint, video
First Coin in Series to Be Released into Circulation on April 19
WASHINGTON (adapted from the US Mint press release)—The US Mint unveiled the designs for the first five quarters in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program in a special ceremony today at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. US Mint Director Ed Moy treated special guests and the media to a first look at the new designs, which celebrate the spectacular natural wonders that are found in the United States’ national parks, forests, shores and other national sites. Other speakers included Congressman Mike Castle, one of the lead co-sponsors of the legislation; United States Treasurer Rosie Rios; Harris Sherman, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment; and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.
The first quarter in the series, which honors Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, will be released into circulation on April 19, with an official launch ceremony in Hot Springs on April 20. It will be followed by quarters honoring Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming (to be released in June), Yosemite National Park in California (July), Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona (September), and Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon (November).
The following is the video from the introduction of the designs at the Newseum along with interviews and B-Roll footage.
America the Beautiful Quarters Designs
- The image on the reverse of the Hot Springs National Park quarter depicts the façade of the Hot Springs National Park headquarters building with a fountain in the foreground. The headquarters was built in the Spanish colonial revival style and completed in 1936. The National Park Service emblem is featured to the right of the door.
- The image on the reverse of the Yellowstone National Park quarter features the Old Faithful geyser with a mature bull bison in the foreground.
- The image on the reverse of the Yosemite National Park quarter depicts the iconic El Capitan, which rises more than 3,000 feet above the valley floor and is the largest monolith of granite in the world.
- The image on the reverse of the Grand Canyon National Park quarter features a view of the granaries above the Nankoweap Delta in Marble Canyon near the Colorado River. Marble Canyon is the northernmost section of the Grand Canyon. Granaries were used for storing food and seeds (A.D. 500).
- The image on the reverse of the Mount Hood National Forest quarter depicts a view of Mount Hood with Lost Lake in the foreground.
Each coin in the series features a common obverse (heads side) with the 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan, which has been restored to bring out subtle details and the beauty of the original model. Inscriptions are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.
For more information on the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, please visit www.americathebeautifulquarters.gov.
Learning through the America the Beautiful Quarters Program
The America the Beautiful Quarters Program will also introduce a brand new lesson plan format with a series of interactive educational tools for students from kindergarten through high school. Students will be able to take a virtual visit to the national sites highlighted each year and have the opportunity to learn about forest communities and the plants and animals that live in our national parks and sites. For more information about America the Beautiful Quarters Program educational resources, please visit www.usmint.gov/?action=educators.
Mar 18, 2010 | national park quarters, US Mint
A public relations firm sent out a media alert announcing that the US Mint will unveil the designs for the first five quarters in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. The program that begins this year is a new multi-year initiative honoring 56 national parks and national sites in each state, the District of Columbia and the five US territories and will run through 2021.
The media event will be held Wednesday, March 24, 12:00 noon at the Newseum in Washington, DC (map). The event will feature US Mint Director Ed Moy unveiling the new designs of the first five quarters in the program and a video of the featured national sites showcasing the natural and historic significance of the first five quarters.
Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas will be first quarter and will be released on April 19 to be followed by Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming (to be released in June), Yosemite National Park in California (July), Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona (September), and Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon (November).
Additional featured speakers scheduled include US Treasurer Rosie Rios, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, and Dayton Duncan the writer and co-producer of the Ken Burns documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.
This may be a media-only event and not open to the public. If you are going to be near the Newseum on March 24, it might be worth trying to attend. Besides, the Newseum is one of the great museums in Washington and worth the time to visit.
Jan 25, 2010 | coin design, history, national park quarters, quarter
While catching up on the weekend’s reading I came across an article Debate rages in coin world: Theodore Roosevelt or George Washington on new quarter? The article is about how the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee debated whether to recommend that Teddy Roosevelt be placed on the obverse of the new America the Beautiful Quarters.
Introduced in 1932, the Washington Quarter was intended to be issued as a one-time circulating commemorative to honor the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth. The quarter was born of controversy when Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon chose John Flanagan’s depictions over what had been determined to be a more artistic version by Laura Gardin Fraser. Although Mellon was a collector of great fine art that was later donated to the National Gallery of Art, many knew he was a sexist and refused to consider that a woman’s work was better than a man’s.
As the Great Depression deepened, no quarters were struck in 1933. Toward the end of the year, US Mint director Nellie Tayloe Ross was asked by the Federal Reserve to produce more quarters for circulation. Rather than use a new design, Ross ask the Treasury Secretary William Woodin for permission to continue to use Fraser’s design. Since Ross and Woodin did not want to undergo a new design competition, the Fraser designed continued until it was “updated” in 1999 for the 50 State Quarters Program.
Numismatist see Teddy Roosevelt as the father of the coinage renaissance when he tried to conspire with Augustus Saint-Gaudens to bring classic design to American coinage. Roosevelt call this his Pet Crime. Roosevelt was instrumental in the Mint using Saint-Gauden’s designs for the $10 gold eagle and his famous design on the $20 gold double eagle coin that continues to be celebrated today. Add the wonderful work by Bela Lyon Pratt on the gold quarter and half eagle coins along with Victor David Brenner’s Lincoln cent and the stage was set for a period of timeless classics.
Under his presidency, Roosevelt made conservation a national priority. He placed more land into the public trust than any other president and created the US Forest Serive to care for that land. Roosevelt elevated the importance of the National Park Service to be more than a caretaker of public land but make it accessible to everyone while protecting its beauty. His service to conservation has not been matched by any president since.
With his work on coinage and the lands that will be featured on the new series, it would be a natural recommendation to have Roosevelt adorn the obverse of these quarter. However, the article reports that the CCAC backed down because of the alleged lack of support by congress.
The CCAC is supposed to be an independent organization that is supposed to recommend what is best for the design of American coinage. It is supposed to be a non-partisan and non-political organization that apparently succumbed to the politics of the day. Rather than doing what is right, the CCAC wilted at the chance to refresh the sameness of the one coin’s design in the same way that Roosevelt bristled at the designs of Charles Barber in the early 20th century.
I am sure that members of the CCAC will ask that if there is no support for the design then why propose it? Because at some point, it is more important to do the right thing than taking the politically expedient path. It would put congress on record as being against a populist idea, albeit a small population of populists. It would show that the CCAC was an organization that understand the issues of coin design and not a rubber stamp body of sometimes bland coin designs.
The CCAC must re-evaluate their role as and advisory committee and advise. If this is not possible, then the CCAC only duplicates the role of the Commission of Fine Arts and should be disbanded.
Oct 5, 2009 | coin design, coins, national park quarters
Over the weekend, Mike Zielinski of the Mint News Blog posted a slide show of the candidates for the America the Beautiful Quarters program. Starting in 2010, the US Mint will release five quarters per year until 2020 and one quarter in 2021 honoring one National Park or National Historic Site in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and five insular territories.
The first five quarters for 2010 will be as follows:
Mike put together a slide show of the design candidates.
The first thing I notices is that the image of the proposed obverse of the new quarters show a better executed design. George Washington’s hair looks less spaghetti-like and the features are stronger. While I would have preferred to see Teddy Roosevelt on the obverse of this quarter, a better image of our first president is a good consolation.
In looking at the designs, there seems to be an effort by the Mint to come up with meaningful designs than the State Quarters. I am sure that they will not be coming up with dead skulls and cuds for designs.
Regardless of the designs, I continue to not be excited about these quarters.
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