The obverse of the America the Beautiful Quarters.
The America the Beautiful Quarters are a series of 25-cent pieces (quarters) issued by the United States Mint from 2010 until at least 2021. The series may be extended at the option of the Secretary of the Treasury, potentially extending the series to 2033. The obverse of all the coins will depict George Washington in a restored version of the original portrait used for the 1932 Washington Quarter.[1] There will be five new reverse designs each year (one in 2021) each depicting a national park or national site (one from each state, the federal district, and each territory). The program is authorized by the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008.
Coin details
Quarters will be issued depicting designs of national parks and sites in the order of which that park or site was deemed a national site.[2] The quarters from three different states will depict parks or sites that were previously portrayed on the state quarters (Grand Canyon in Arizona, Yosemite in California, and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota). Though they will depict the same sites, they bear new designs.[3]
Beginning with the El Yunque (Puerto Rico) design in the America the Beautiful Quarters program, the U.S. Mint [4] began selling (at a premium) uncirculated 40-coin rolls and 100-coin bags of quarters with the San Francisco mint mark. These coins were not included in the 2012 uncirculated sets or the three-coin ATB quarter sets (which consisted of an uncirculated "P" and "D" and proof "S" specimen) and no "S" mint-marked quarters are being released into circulation, so that mintages will be determined solely by direct demand for the "S" mint-marked coins. As of January 2013 initial United States Mint sales figures indicated that between 1.3 million and 1.6 million of each 2012 design had been struck at the San Francisco mint, close to the announced mintage of 1.4 million for each design. Direct U.S. Mint sale of rolls and bags of uncirculated business strike coins continued with the 2013 American the Beautiful quarter issues, with actual quantities again to be determined by customer orders. Although the mintages of the uncirculated "S" quarters are considerably lower than that of the "P" and "D" mint-marked coins, none are being released into circulation so that the quantities minted will not be reduced by the attrition normally associated with circulating coins (similar to the situation with the Columbian half dollar minted in 1892 and 1893). Consequently, supplies of mint state specimens will remain readily available and the collector value of "S" mint uncirculated quarters probably will be very little more than that for the "P" and "D" uncirculated quarters.
^"About the Program". usmint.gov. Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-28. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
