The 33rd coin released in 2016 as part of the United States Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters® Program commemorates Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia.
Several key dates for West Virginia’s 2016 Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Quarter include:
- its release into general circulation beginning on June 6, 2016;
- its availability in U.S. Mint-branded rolls and bags at www.usmint.gov, also on June 6, 2016; and
- its official launch ceremony, hosted by the U.S. Mint and the National Park Service at Lower Town (Hamilton Street along the Shenandoah River) in Harpers Ferry, WV on Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at 10 a.m. ET.
Thomas Hipschen designed the reverse or tails side of the park quarter, with Phebe Hemphill sculpting it. John Brown’s Fort is depicted. The site is his last stand during his raid on the Harpers Ferry Armory. Around the fort are inscriptions: HARPERS FERRY, WEST VIRGINIA, JOHN BROWN’S FORT, 2016 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
This design was selected from among 8 candidates that were reviewed by park representatives, the Citizen’s Coinage Advisory Committee and the Commission of Fine Arts. The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury is tasked with making the final selection for all quarter designs.
Obverses or heads side of America the Beautiful Quarters share the same design, a portrait of George Washington as created by John Flanagan.
These same obverse and reverse designs are also on a series of bullion and collector 3-inch diameter, 5-ounce silver coins also produced and sold by the U.S. Mint.
The Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Quarter is just one of 56 coins to be issued in the series. The program actually started in 2010 and will continue until 2021 at a rate of five coins issued per year.
Earlier in 2016, the Shawnee National Forest Quarter for Illinois and the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Quarter for Kentucky were introduced. Following the Harper’s Ferry quarter are the Theodore Roosevelt National Park Quarter for North Dakota and the Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument) Quarter for South Carolina.
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Information
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park of West Virginia holds a full history, from the Native Americans that lived there years before Europeans arrived to present day.
Robert Harper was in charge of a ferry service on the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers in this area which is why the park is named after the man
Making the site more historical is the fact that the Lewis and Clark Expedition began in Harpers Ferry. Also, during the American Civil War the location was so pivotal that forces fought and gained possession of the area eight times.
Harpers Ferry makes it easy for tourists to travel between states. The Appalachian Trial connects with it, allowing visitors to walk from town to the border of Maryland in just a short time.