Release dates have been announced for the U.S. Mint to release in 2020 through the Federal Reserve the 51st through 55th America the Beautiful quarter dollars.

The quarter dollars to be issued will recognize national parks or historic sites in American Samoa, Connecticut, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont and Kansas.

2021 will close out the 12-year, 56-coin program with a quarter dollar recognizing Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Alabama releasing Fe. 1, 2021.

The release dates into circulation are Feb. 3, 2020, for the National Park of American Samoa; April 6, 2020, for Weir Farm National Historic Site; June 1, 2020, for Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve; Aug. 31, 2020, for Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park; and Nov. 16, 2020, for Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.

Designs

U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist Richard Masters designed and Mint Medallic Artist Phebe Hemphill sculpted the National Park of American Samoa coin.

Masters’ design, according to the Mint narrative, “depicts a Samoan fruit bat mother hanging in a tree with her pup. The image evokes the remarkable care and energy that this species puts into their offspring. The design is intended to promote awareness to the species’ threatened status due to habitat loss and commercial hunting.”

“The National Park of American Samoa is the only park in the United States that is home to the Samoan fruit bat.”

The Weir Farm National Historic Site coin was designed by AIP artist Justin Kunz and sculpted by Hemphill. The design “portrays an artist, wearing a painter’s smock, painting outside Julian Alden Weir’s studio at Weir Farm. It is inspired by various images of the studio and Weir’s paintings created on the property, as well as descriptions of Weir and his fellow artist’s creative inspiration from the rural environment,” according to the Mint.

The Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve quarter dollar reverse design is by Masters and sculpted by Mint Chief Engraver Joseph F. Menna.

The design, according to the Mint’s narrative, “depicts a red mangrove tree in an early stage of its life cycle, as it evolves from a very small plant to an adult tree. The design brings awareness to the park’s endangered mangrove forests and the unique and delicate nature of how the species reproduces in salt water.” 

Donna Weaver, an AIP aritst and retired Mint sculptor-engraver, designed the reverse for the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park quarter dollar, with the sculpting by Mint Medallic Artist Michael Gaudioso.

The design, according to the Mint, “depicts a young girl completing the planting of a Norway spruce seedling near an established tree, continuing the life cycle of the forest. The child represents the conservationist, seeking to maintain a sustainable forest for future enjoyment and education.”

AIP artist Emily S. Damstra designed the reverse for the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve quarter dollar. Damstra’s design was sculpted by Mint Medallic Artist Renata Gordon.

Damstra’s design “depicts a skyward view of a Regal Fritillary butterfly against a backdrop of Big Bluestem and Indian grasses, iconic to Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.”

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