First Look: National Park Quarters

U.S. Mint and Dept. of the Interior unveil 'America The Beautiful' quarters

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A little while ago we gave you the heads-up about the U.S. Mint’s upcoming “America the Beautiful” quarters, which celebrate national parks and wild places on our most useful coinage. Now, the Mint and the Interior Department have revealed artists’ renditions of what the first quarters will look like. Check them out:

Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas gets issued first (huh?) on April 19. Next comes Yellowstone, then Yosemite, then the Grand Canyon, and finally Mt. Hood National Forest. More will follow in 2011.

Will you collect them all? Most of them look pretty cool, but I can’t promise Hot Springs won’t end up in a parking meter eventually.

—Ted Alvarez