Yellowstone National Park Quarter
The second coin to be released under the United States Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters Program is the Wyoming 2010 Yellowstone National Park Quarter. The 2.2 million acre facility has the distinction of being the first national park ever created by a government.
The final quarter design has not yet been announced by the US Mint, but both the United States Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee have had the chance to give their recommendations on three (See them below.)
 Yellowstone Park Quarter Design WY-01 (Click to Enlarge) |
 Yellowstone Park Quarter Design WY-02 (Click to Enlarge) |
 Yellowstone Park Quarter Design WY-03 (Click to Enlarge) |
Using the word "strongly", the Committee showed a preference for design candidate WY-01 which features bison in the foreground and background. It also shows the Old Faithful geyser mid-eruption. Committee members felt using the bison showcased not only the landscape but the wildlife of the park.
The Commission of Fine Arts rejected all submissions for Yellowstone stating "poor quality" as their reasoning. They did feel that using Old Faithful was appropriate for the design but wanted more development.
No release date has been set yet for the Yellowstone quarter, but it is anticipated to be in the first half of 2010.
Yellowstone National Park information
Aside from a few fur trappers, the Yellowstone area was only known to the local Native American tribes. But by the mid 1800’s, many naturalists including a man named F.V. Hayden became concerned that Yellowstone would become too commercialized if not protected by the government.
To this end, he led an expedition complete with a large format photographer into the area to capture the splendor of the scenery. Then, using these photographs he was able to persuade Congress to remove the land from public auction and eventually create Yellowstone National Park.
This seemingly insignificant event was, in fact, setting a precedent for the protection of public lands for decades by becoming the first national park ever created.
With the help of (and sometimes exploitation by) the transcontinental railroads, Yellowstone quickly became a tourist attraction drawing thousands of visitors from the East eager to see its rugged beauty and wildlife.
Today, over 3 million people visit the park annually, most of whom head straight for a viewing of Old Faithful geyser which erupts at intervals usually between 60 and 90 minutes.