United States Mint Announces America the Beautiful Quarters
The United States Mint announced that it will honor 56 national sites through the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. The first quarters will launch in 2010. They will include quarters honoring the Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Yosemite National Park in California, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona and Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon. Five new coins will be launched each year, through 2021.
A list of all 56 sites that are going to be honored in the program can be found here. The quarters will be issued sequentially each year, in the order in which the featured site was first established as a national park or site.
"These new quarters will honor some of our most revered, treasured and beautiful national sites – majestic and historic places located throughout the United States and its territories that truly make us 'America the Beautiful,'" said United States Mint Director Ed Moy. "The designs will help reinvigorate interest in our national parks, forests, fish and wildlife refuges, and other national sites, as well as educate the public about their importance to us and our history."