By Office of Corporate Communications
August 2, 2019
In this video, U.S. Mint Chief Engraver Joe Menna and artist Chris Costello discuss their work on the quarter honoring San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.
On Thursday, September 5, 2019, the U.S. Mint will launch a quarter honoring the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in San Antonio, Texas. The quarter is the fourth release of 2019 as part of the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program.
The San Antonio Missions National Historical Park quarter pays tribute to the San Antonio missions – which were among the largest concentrations of Spanish missions in North America – and their role in helping to create the foundation for the City of San Antonio. The construction of aqueducts and irrigation canals (acequinas) brought water to the missions and helped sustain farming and ranching. The missions’ toolmaking, carpentry, looming, spinning, and masonry also contributed to the community’s ability to be self-sustaining.
The design of the coin depicts elements of the Spanish Colonial Real coin. Within the quadrants are the symbols of the missions:
- Wheat symbolizes farming
- Arches and bell symbolize community
- Lion represents Spanish cultural heritage
- Water represents irrigation methods and life-sustaining resources of the San Antonio River
“The San Antonio National Park quarter was fun to sculpt because it’s almost a replica coin,” said Joe Menna, Chief Engraver for the Mint who sculpted the San Antonio quarter. “It harkened back to an older coin. It has great historical significance as a result.”
To learn more about the upcoming San Antonio quarter launch, visit our Events Page.
Additional Resources
Games
- Check out the San Antonio Quarter in Coin Flip, a free online game that allows kids and adults alike to discover new and classic coins offered by the U.S. Mint while learning about probability and statistics, earning achievements, and unlocking new coins.
- Explore terms related to 2019 America the Beautiful quarters, including the San Antonio Missions quarter in the Mint’s online word search game, Word Quest.
Lesson Plans
Looking for ideas or resources related to the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park and Texas? Check out our free lesson plans:
- Piecing Together History at the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park (Grades 3-5): Students will research the history of the San Antonio missions and early colonization of the United States and understand the role that the Spanish missions played in the development of Texas and the San Antonio region.
- Simple Symbols (Grades K-2): Students will recognize and use the word “symbol” and create a glyph using symbols about themselves.
- Making Cents of Independence (Grades 4-6): Students will identify the causes and major events of the Texan and American revolutions. Students will also compare and contrast the revolutions.
See more Inside the Mint articles.