America the Beautiful Quarters Program
The United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program was officially announced on September 9th, 2009. This new program encompasses a total of 56 new quarter designs that will run from 2010 through 2021.
At a rate of 5 per year, a new quarter will be issued featuring a reverse design emblematic of a National Park or National Site from each state as well as Washington D.C. and the U.S. territories. After consulting with the executive in charge of each locality and with the Secretary of the Interior, the US Mint submitted a list of recommended sites to Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner who approved it on August 25, 2009. The order of issue for each coin will be determined by the date the site officially came under the control of the United States government.
As such, Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas will be the first coin in the new series. It was created as a reservation area in 1832 and renamed a National Park in 1922. The other coins due out in 2010 are Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Yosemite National Park in California, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona and Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon. Read more