Approved designs for the final six coins in the 56-coin America the Beautiful Quarters Program were unveiled Aug. 13 in Rosemont, Illinois, at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money.

U.S. Mint Director David J. Ryder and James Pressley from the Mint’s sales and marketing team jointly removed the drape to uncover the reverse designs for the five 2020 coins celebrating National Park of American Samoa in American Samoa, Weir Farm National Historic Site in Connecticut, Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Vermont and Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas, and the final coin, for 2021, representing the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Alabama.

The final six coin designs and their designers are:

➤ National Park of American Samoa — the design was executed by U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist Richard Masters and sculpted by U.S. Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill. Masters’ design features “a Samoan Fruit Bat mother hanging in a tree with her pup, evoking the remarkable care and energy that this species puts into their offspring.”

➤ Weir Farm National Historic Site — the design was rendered 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.” 

➤ Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve — designed by Masters and sculpted by U.S. Mint Chief Sculptor-Engraver Joseph F. Menna. Masters’ design “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.”

➤ Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park — designed by AIP artist Donna Weaver and sculpted by Mint Sculptor-Engraver Michael Gaudioso. Weaver’s design illustrates “a young girl completing the planting of a Norway spruce seedling near an established tree, continuing the life cycle of the forest.” 

➤ Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve — designed by AIP artist Emily Damstra, sculpted by U.S. Mint Sculptor-Engraver Renata Gordon. Damstra’s rendering “depicts a skyward view of a Regal Fritillary butterfly against a backdrop of Big Bluestem and Indian grasses, iconic to Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.”

➤ Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site — designed by AIP artists Chris T. Costello and sculpted by Hemphill. Costello produced a design that “depicts a Tuskegee Airman suiting up to join the fight during World War II with the Moton Field control tower in the background. The pilot looks upward with pride and confidence as two P-51 Mustangs pass overhead.” 

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