A Vacation Souvenir for Just a Quarter

OK, I’ll admit it: I have a bias towards the West.

So when I found out that the first five designs for the U.S. Mint’s new America the Beautiful Quarters were all going to be properties in the West, well, I just had to let you know about it.

According to the Mint, beginning in 2010 and in each year through 2021 you will see five new national site designs depicted on the reverse of the America the Beautiful Quarters, issued in the order in which the property was first established as a national site.

For 2010 the five sites are Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; Yosemite National Park, California; Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, and Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon.

Apparently, the Mint’s 50 State Quarters program was successful enough that Congress and the Mint decided a series of quarters honoring America the Beautiful would be a good idea. After all, it doesn’t cost the Mint a quarter to manufacture a quarter, and collector sales make a profit. (We know the federal government needs the money!)

Eventually, all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia will have a national park or other federally-preserved area represented on the reverse (tails side) side of a quarter.

While I’m all for promoting America the Beautiful, and saluting national parks, forests and Fish & Wildlife properties, parents of young children might see the program as a cost-effective (make that cheap) way of getting kids their souvenirs on future vacations.

Let’s say next year you and the family are visiting one of the sites in the West. You pull up to the entrance center, pay your entrance fee and ask the ranger if some of your change can be given in new quarters with the image of the park on the back.

With the new quarters in hand, you then turn around to your bright-eyed children securely strapped in their car seats and say, “Hey kids! Look at the neat souvenir I’m handing you!” Then when you go into the gift store, and junior wants you to buy something, you can smile and say, “but you already have a souvenir!” Think of the money you’ll save.

OK, I’m not that mean, really. No really.

I do think the America the Beautiful Quarters program is a good promotion, and may help to raise the public’s interest in visiting our public lands. Management at the parks and other federal properties, however, should make sure they have plenty of quarters on hand to pass out as change. It’s good public relations.

By the way, here’s the order in which the first five national properties were established:

Hot Springs National Park / April 20, 1832
Yellowstone National Park / March 1, 1872
Yosemite National Park / Oct. 1, 1890
Grand Canyon National Park / Feb. 20, 1893
Mt. Hood National Forest / Sept. 28, 1893

I’ve got one more question: The National Park Service is represented, so is the U.S. Forest Service and Fish & Game. But no Bureau of Land Management. How come?

For more information about the American the Beautiful Quarters program visit the U.S. Mint’s Web site at http://www.usmint.gov/

And if you want to discover places in the West to visit, explore, do camping, hiking or sightseeing, visit OldWestNewWest.com Travel & History Magazine at http://www.oldwestnewwest.com/ for some ideas.