WASHINGTON — The United States Mint today announced the reverse (tails side) designs for the 2014 coins in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. The national sites that will be honored are Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee), Shenandoah National Park (Virginia), Arches National Park (Utah), Great Sand Dunes National Park (Colorado), and Everglades National Park (Florida). The public can expect to see coins in their change next year with the following designs.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The design depicts a historic log cabin found within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It features a segment of the lush green forest and hawk circling above. Inscriptions are GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS, TENNESSEE, 2014, and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The reverse was designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) artist Chris Costello and executed by United States Mint Sculptor–Engraver Renata Gordon.Shenandoah National Park
The design depicts a day hiker taking in the view from Little Stony Man summit. Inscriptions are SHENANDOAH, VIRGINIA, 2014, and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The reverse was designed and executed by United States Mint Sculptor–Engraver Phebe Hemphill.Arches National Park
The design depicts Delicate Arch, a 65–foot freestanding natural arch, with the La Sal Mountains visible in the background. Inscriptions are ARCHES, UTAH, 2014, and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The reverse was designed by AIP artist Donna Weaver and executed by United States Mint Sculptor–Engraver Charles L. Vickers.Great Sand Dunes National Park
The design features a father and son playing in the sand next to the creek bed. The distinctive mountains and sand dunes are featured in the background. Inscriptions are GREAT SAND DUNES, COLORADO, 2014, and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The reverse was designed and executed by United States Mint Sculptor–Engraver Don Everhart.Everglades National Park
The design features an anhinga with outstretched wings on a willow tree with a roseate spoonbill visible in the mid–ground. Inscriptions are EVERGLADES, FLORIDA, 2014, and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The reverse was designed by AIP artist Joel Iskowitz and executed by United States Mint Sculptor–Engraver Joseph Menna.
All coins in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program have a common obverse (heads side) design of John Flanagan’s 1932 portrait of George Washington. Inscriptions on the obverse are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, and QUARTER DOLLAR.
The United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Program is a multi–year initiative authorized by the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008 (Act) (Public Law 110–456). The Act requires the bureau to mint and issue 56 circulating quarter–dollar coins with reverse designs emblematic of a national park or other national site in each state, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories – Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The bureau is releasing the quarters in the order in which the featured sites were first established as national parks or sites. Coin designs will rotate five times each year through 2020, with the final coin being released in 2021.