National Park Quarters
There will be a new series of quarters beginning in 2010 known as the National Park Quarters. This new series will follow the success of the prior 50 State Quarters Program and District of Columbia & United States Territories Quarters Program.
Over the course of eleven years, the National Park Quarters series will feature at least 56 different reverse designs featuring National Parks or National Sites from each state, United States territory, and the District of Columbia. New quarters will be released at a rate of five per year.
National Park Quarters Proposal
A new series of circulating commemorative quarters was first proposed on June 4, 2008. The bill H.R. 6184: America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008 was introduced by Rep. Michael Castle of Delaware.
The legislation was approved by the House of Representatives on July 9, 2008. It was later approved by the Senate on December 10, 2008. The bill was signed into law on December 23, 2008 by President Bush. After that point, it became Public Law No: 110-456.
National Park Quarter Series
The National Park Quarters Program will feature quarters with designs “emblematic of a national park or other national site in each State, the District of Columbia, and each territory of the United States.” This would result in at least 56 different reverse designs for the circulating quarter series.
The United States Mint has established a formal site selection process and design selection process which will involve the chief executive of each host jurisdiction, the Secretary of the Interior, the federal department or agency with oversight of the site, the CFA, and the CCAC. The United States Secretary of the Treasury will have final approval of the sites to be featured and the designs to be used for each coin.
National Park Quarter Schedule
The National Park Quarters would be issued starting in 2010 after the conclusion of the 50 State Quarters Program and the District of Columbia & US Territories Quarters Program. The coins would be issued at a rate of five new designs per year, resulting in a duration of 11 years.
At the option of the Secretary of the Treasury, the program could be extended for a second cycle. This would mean the program could potentially include 112 coins and run for over 22 years.
The US Mint is currently in the process of selecting sites to be featured on each quarter. Once the site list is established, the order of release will be determined by the date each site was first established as a National Park or Site.