Quarters honoring Cumberland Gap National Historical Park of Kentucky will appear soon from the United States Mint in rolls and bags.
Released as the second 2016-dated issue in the U.S. Mint’s program of America the Beautiful Quarters, the Cumberland Gap quarter will be available beginning at Noon (ET) on Monday, April 4, 2016.
Found inside the rolls and bags are circulation quality quarters produced at one of three U.S. Mint facilities — Philadelphia, Denver or San Francisco. Buyers may choose which facility their quarters were produced at depending upon which product option is chosen.
There are two things of note for this release. First, while the quarters are circulation quality, they have never been actually released into general circulation. Second, while the Philadelphia and Denver Mint also strikes coins for circulation, those produced at the San Francisco Mint are issued only for numismatic purposes and are unlikely ever to be found in change.
The Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters® Program debuted in 2010 and features five new releases annually with each honoring a different site of national interest from around the United States.(See the list of national sites honored.)
Rolls and Bags
Cumberland Gap quarters are available in single rolls, two-roll sets, three-roll sets and 100-coin bags as part of this release. The chart below offers a list of the available options and their pricing.
PRODUCT OPTION | MINT MARK | PRICE |
Single Roll of 40 coins | "S" | $18.95 |
100-Coin Bag | "P," "D," or "S" | $34.95 |
Two-Roll Set, 40 coins per roll | "P" and "D" | $32.95 |
Three-Roll Set, 40 coins per roll | "P," "D," and "S" | $46.95 |
Mintmarks indicate which U.S. Mint facility the quarters were produced at with "S" indicating San Francisco, "P" for Philadelphia and "D" for Denver. The mintmark appears on the obverse (heads side) of each coin.
Pricing of the rolls and bags remain unchanged from the previous America the Beautiful Quarter which honored Shawnee National Forest of Illinois.
Designs on Cumberland Gap Quarters
Following a coin design procedure which involved input from the United States Commission of Fine Arts, the Citizen’s Coinage Advisory Committee and several other officials affiliated with Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, the United States Mint unveiled the final design for the Cumberland Gap Quarter back in July of 2015 along with the designs for the other 2016-dated quarters.
Seen on the reverse (tails side) is a design emblematic of the national historical park as designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) artist Barbara Fox with sculpting by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Joseph Menna. The design shows a frontiersman gazing across the mountains to the West reflecting the importance of the gap to the frontiersmen of Kentucky and Tennessee. Reverse inscriptions include "CUMBERLAND GAP," "KENTUCKY," "2016," "E PLURIBUS UNUM," and "FIRST DOORWAY TO THE WEST."
All America the Beautiful Quarters offer the same obverse portrait of George Washington. The effigy was first created by artist John Flanagan and has been in use on quarter dollars since 1932. Obverse inscriptions include "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "LIBERTY," "IN GOD WE TRUST," and "QUARTER DOLLAR" along with the mintmark.
Ordering
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Quarter rolls and bags may be ordered directly from the United States Mint upon release. The Mint’s product page of America the Beautiful Quarters is found here. Orders are also accepted via telephone at 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).
Official Release Ceremony
An official release ceremony for the Cumberland Gap Quarters will be held on Monday, April 11, 2016 at 11 AM (Eastern Time) at:
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Visitor Center
Pinnacle View Rd
Middlesboro, KY 40965
Following the event, a coin exchange will be offered where attendees can exchange cash for new rolls of the quarter dollar.
The previous day, Sunday, April 10, 2016 at 3-4 PM, the U.S. Mint will host a coin forum. Attendees of the forum will be able to ask questions of Mint officials. The location for the coin forum is listed as C.V. Whitney Convention Center, Pine Mountain State Resort Park, 1050 State Park Road, Pineville, KY 40977.