2011-P America the Beautiful Gettysburg National Park Quarter : A Collector’s Guide

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes ….

The 2011-P Gettysburg National Military Park Quarter is the sixth release of the 56-coin America the Beautiful (ATB) Quarters Program (2010–2021). The coin honors the solemn ground where more than 3,000 Union soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice for Liberty and the preservation of the Union. The three-day battle itself resulted in over 51,000 total casualties (killed, wounded, or missing) for both armies. The loss was devastating to Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Severely weakened, his forces never again mounted a large-scale invasion of Northern territory. Instead, they were driven into a series of losing defensive battles against General Ulysses S. Grant, which culminated in the 292-day siege at Petersburg and the fall of Richmond on April 3, 1865. None of this inevitable conclusion was apparent during the three days the two armies met, almost by accident, on July 1, 1863.

The Battle, Its Aftermath, and Memory

The reverse of the coin features the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Monument. This sculpture stands on the Union Army’s battle line at Cemetery Ridge, precisely at “The Angle,” which marks the “High Water Mark of the Confederacy” following Pickett’s Charge. The decision to depict this singular monument, rather than a generalized scene, focuses the coin’s message on the intense, personal sacrifice required to repel the assault. Furthermore, the selection of this particular monument introduces a subtle narrative about the politics of memory; its placement was the subject of a significant legal controversy, a reminder of the historical struggle over how and where battlefield heroism should be permanently recorded.

In the immediate aftermath of the battle, the small town of Gettysburg (which had a population of only about 2,400) was instantly overrun by the physical evidence of modern warfare. With casualty estimates soaring over 50,000, approximately 30,000 wounded soldiers remained in the area, often receiving treatment in makeshift hospitals within homes and barns. Thousands of human and equine dead lay unburied in the intense July heat, creating a “heavy sickening, disgusting stench” that left an indelible impression of horror on citizens exposed to the reality of the war.

The urgent necessity for a proper burial ground for the fallen Union troops spurred prominent community members to lobby for a permanent memorial site. This effort resulted in the creation of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, intended to be the final resting place for the over 3,500 Union soldiers killed during the battle.

The cemetery’s formal dedication took place four and a half months after the battle, on November 19, 1863. It was during this ceremony that President Abraham Lincoln delivered the 272-word Gettysburg Address, transforming the site from a place of military catastrophe into hallowed ground. The Address achieved a critical redefinition of the war’s purpose, shifting the national mandate from political preservation to achieving a “new birth of freedom” based on the foundational principles of equality found in the Declaration of Independence. The historical process moved through battle and carnage to the creation of a cemetery and, ultimately, to the Address, ensuring that the physical place itself became intrinsically linked to the highest moral aspirations of the preserved Union.

Preserving the Battlefield

The groundwork for preserving the Gettysburg landscape was laid by post-war veterans’ organizations, notably the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association (GBMA), which began purchasing critical battlefield plots and coordinating the placement of regimental monuments.

Federal control was officially instituted on February 11, 1895, through an act of Congress that formally established the Gettysburg National Military Park (GNMP) and transferred power from the GBMA to the Secretary of War. The establishment date of 1895 serves as the chronological anchor that dictated the release order of the Gettysburg quarter in the America the Beautiful series.

The GNMP encompasses 6,000 acres, carefully preserved to reflect the historic appearance of 1863. The landscape is dense with commemorative artifacts, featuring over 1,300 monuments, markers, and memorials. The sheer density of these monuments reflects the intense political and emotional efforts by states and veteran units to assert their specific actions and sacrifices on the battlefield permanently.

In recent decades, the National Park Service (NPS) at Gettysburg has broadened its interpretive mission, moving beyond purely military strategy. Since 1998, the NPS has emphasized the “causes and consequences” of the conflict, using Lincoln’s “A New Birth of Freedom” as a guiding theme. This contemporary commitment ensures that the park functions as a “living classroom,” integrating the history of slavery and abolition with the preserved battle lines, aligning the modern institutional narrative with the moral mandate first articulated by Lincoln in 1863.

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Market Data and Noteworthy Specimen

Top Population: PCGS MS68 (3, 10/2025), NGC MS69 (1, 10/2025), and CAC None Graded (10/2025).

• Uncirculated Roll: eBay, September 11, 2025 – $20.50. 4 bids.
• Uncirculated Roll: eBay, September 7, 2025 – $24.69. Buy It Now.
• Uncirculated Coin (Raw): eBay, August 17, 2025 – $2.95. Buy It Now.

Design

Obverse:

A modern reworking of John Flanagan’s Washington Quarter design. Founding Father and first President George Washington’s left-facing bust sits in the center of the coin. Flanagan’s initials JF are visible in the bust truncation. Wrapping clockwise around the top of the coin is the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. To Washington’s left is the inscription LIBERTY; to his right, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The coin’s denomination wraps around the bottom of the coin, written as QUARTER DOLLAR. The P mint mark appears below the motto.

Reverse:

An image of the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Monument, located on the Gettysburg Battlefield. In a wide rim are the inscriptions: GETTYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, E PLURIBUS UNUM, and the date 2011.

Edge:

The edge of the 2011-P Gettysburg National Park Quarter Clad Proof is reeded.

2011-P Gettysburg America the Beautiful Quarter Coin Specifications

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