Homestead National Monument of America Quarter
In 2015, another set of five quarters will be released during the year as part of the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. The 2015 Homestead National Monument of America Quarter will be the first quarter of that set released and honor the national site in Nebraska. It will also mark the 26th of 56 quarters released over all in the program.
The reverse of the coin will contain a design emblematic of Homestead. The design will be chosen by the Secretary of the Treasury from several design candidates presented by the US Mint. Along with the recommendation of the Mint, the Treasury Secretary will also take into account the comments of the Citizen’s Coinage Advisory Committee as well as the United States Commission of Fine Arts when making the choice. The final decision will be announced by the Mint likely in the latter part of 2014.
A portrait of the first President of the United States, George Washington, will be shown on the obverse of the Homestead National Monument of America Quarter. This same portrait, in fact, will be used on the obverse of all of the America the Beautiful coins and was first seen on the 1932 circulating quarter dollar. It was originally designed by John Flanagan.
As previously mentioned, the Homestead National Monument of America Quarter is the first to be released in the program in 2015, which means four other quarters will follow it. Those quarters are the Kisatchie National Forest Quarter, Blue Ridge Parkway Quarter, Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge Quarter, and the Saratoga National Historical Park Quarter.
Homestead National Monument of America information
The Homestead National Monument of America in Nebraska recalls the importance of the Homestead Act which gave pioneers of America the opportunity to move westward through the United States. On January 1st, 1863, Daniel Freeman was the first person to submit an application for a homestead, filing just a few minutes after the Act went into effect.
At the time, individuals who filed for application for a homestead only needed to make improvements on the land and file for a deed of title when this was done. 160 acres was given to each person as it was difficult to maintain that much land in the mid 1800s. As technology advanced though, so did the Homestead Act, which began giving out larger portions of land. In 1976, however, the Homestead Act was officially repealed by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.
Today, there is a monument on the very homestead that Daniel Freeman lived on. There is a Heritage Center for visitors to stop by and a small portion of the Tallgrass Prairie to see what many of the original homestead owners saw when they first moved west.