WMNF to be Featured in U.S. Mint "America the Beautiful Quarters Program"

Don’t think this has been posted on this Forum, but if it has, then Moderators please delete!

The United States Mint recently announced that the nation will honor the White Mountain National Forest through its new America the Beautiful Quarters Program.

The Mint will be issuing 56 quarter-dollar coins with reverse (tails side) designs emblematic of a national park or other national site in each state, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands). The quarters will be issued sequentially each year, in the order in which the featured site was first established as a national park or site.

More details are in the link below:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/PRNewswire/release/202270.html

There'd better not be a bridge in the graphic used for the quarter.

MichaelJ said:

There'd better not be a bridge in the graphic used for the quarter.

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Good point! Wouldn’t that be paradoxical!

Speaking of bridges, I ran into a trail crew person yesterday who was carrying out pieces of the suspension bridge located on the Great Gulf Trail near the intersection with the Madison Gulf Trail.
With a smile on my face, I asked him if this bridge was being permanently removed, or just repaired. He said it was just being repaired.

grrr...

I realize the article was not fact-checked by the publisher after being written by a PR flak working for the US Mint (check the byline), but doesn't the Mint feel any embarrassment at flunking geography?

"Mount Washington, the highest peak north of the Smokey Mountains and east of the Mississippi"

nartreb said:

I realize the article was not fact-checked by the publisher after being written by a PR flak working for the US Mint (check the byline), but doesn't the Mint feel any embarrassment at flunking geography?

"Mount Washington, the highest peak north of the Smokey Mountains and east of the Mississippi"

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Um, probably not and neither do I with the knowledge that it's a true statement. From the Wikipedia entry on the Appalachian Mountains (which cites elevations from the NPS):

"The Western Blue Ridge Front is subdivided into the Unaka Range, the Bald Mountains, the Great Smoky Mountains, and the Unicoi Mountains, and its major peaks include Roan Mountain (6,285 feet (1,916 m)) in the Unakas, Big Bald (5,516 feet (1,681 m)) and Max Patch (4,616 feet (1,407 m)) in the Bald Mountains, Clingmans Dome (6,643 feet (2,025 m)), Mount Le Conte (6,593 feet (2,010 m)), and Mount Guyot (6,621 feet (2,018 m)) in the Great Smokies, and Big Frog Mountain (4,224 feet (1,287 m)) near the Tennessee-Georgia-North Carolina border. Prominent summits in the cross ridges include Waterrock Knob (6,292 feet (1,918 m)) in the Plott Balsams (emphasis added)."

(Most here will know that our Rock Pile tops out at 6288'.)

sardog1 said:

Um, probably not and neither do I with the knowledge that it's a true statement.

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Only if the world ends with the US...there are higher peaks in the Canadian Arctic, east of the Mississippi's longitude. (One could also argue about whether, say, Mont Blanc is east of the Mississippi.)

jniehof said:

Only if the world ends with the US...there are higher peaks in the Canadian Arctic, east of the Mississippi's longitude. (One could also argue about whether, say, Mont Blanc is east of the Mississippi.)

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I would imagine that when the topic is US currency and US national parks and features that one can assume the discussion and statements do not extend beyond national boundaries.

MichaelJ said:

I would imagine that when the topic is US currency and US national parks and features that one can assume the discussion and statements do not extend beyond national boundaries.

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My sentiments, exactly. But what bothers me is that I always thought the summit of Mt. Washington wasn't in the WMNF. Isn't it a state park? Shame on the Feds for claiming ownership of the most developed rock pile in the US.

BTW: WMNF is not a national park.

While the actual summit is in a state park, the vast majority of the mountain is in the national forest, and the summit is within the boundaries of the national forest. And I'm sure there's some sort of easement for the AT as well, which is administered by the NPS.

The list of locations to be honored includes several National Forests and a National Wildlife Refuge, in addition to various National Parks, Monuments, Historical Parks, etc.

David Metsky said:

While the actual summit is in a state park, the vast majority of the mountain is in the national forest, and the summit is within the boundaries of the national forest. And I'm sure there's some sort of easement for the AT as well, which is administered by the NPS.

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Not to mention the Cog, the auto road, and the US Post office!

http://news.coinupdate.com/ccac-review-of-america-the-beautiful-quarter-designs-1222/


These appear to be the possible designs under consideration. From a quick Google search, I don't think any official choice has been made yet. It looks like this will be the first quarter released next year (2013). Seems a bit incomplete just saying "White Mountain" without the "National Forest"...most will probably assume it's a National Park.

I wonder if this quarter might boost tourism a bit in the Whites?

ow2010 said:

I wonder if this quarter might boost tourism a bit in the Whites?

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Was that ever a good set up!

I would think it would boost it at least 2 bits!

ow2010 said:

http://news.coinupdate.com/ccac-review-of-america-the-beautiful-quarter-designs-1222/

These appear to be the possible designs under consideration. From a quick Google search, I don't think any official choice has been made yet. It looks like this will be the first quarter released next year (2013). Seems a bit incomplete just saying "White Mountain" without the "National Forest"...most will probably assume it's a National Park.

I wonder if this quarter might boost tourism a bit in the Whites?

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In the article it says the design that they are "recommending" is #2, under the "results of the votes" section. Some of the others didn't pass:

"Editor's Note: On February 28, 2012, the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee will review a new set of design candidates for the Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial Quarter and the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine that have been prepared by the United States Mint."

JacobH said:

In the article it says the design that they are "recommending" is #2, under the "results of the votes" section.

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Thanks for mentioning that. I noticed it but I wasn't sure if that meant it would surely be the choice or not.

It looks like that's Chocorua in all the designs...interesting that Washington doesn't appear in any of them.

ow2010 said:

Thanks for mentioning that. I noticed it but I wasn't sure if that meant it would surely be the choice or not.

It looks like that's Chocorua in all the designs...interesting that Washington doesn't appear in any of them.

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I checked out the CCAC website and it looks like the members of the committee are people from the mint, etc. They make the direct recommendation to the Secretary of Treasury who then presents the bill to congress, etc. It sounds like that once the final "recommendation" is made that as long as the bill passes, that is pretty much the choice they use (each voter on the committee can assign 0-3 points per design and a design needs more than 50% of the vote to be recommended). A couple of the coin sets presented garnered no majority vote and have to be redrawn (hence my other quote).

So... assuming the bill passes, the design should be 02?

I agree that it was a little odd that Washington wasn't on any of the designs, but then again Chocorua is supposed to be one of the most photographed mountains in the world so its not a huge surprise they chose that one.

ow2010 said:

Thanks for mentioning that. I noticed it but I wasn't sure if that meant it would surely be the choice or not.

It looks like that's Chocorua in all the designs...interesting that Washington doesn't appear in any of them.

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Flip it over. Washington has been on all the quarters since 1932.