by DARRIN LEE UNSER on JANUARY 14, 2020
The United States Mint continues its America the Beautiful Quarters® Program, a series nearing its close, with today’s release of a proof set that showcases five different coin designs.
Images of the protective lens for the 2020 United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Proof Set™ and the illustrated box that holds it (views of the box’s back and front)
Each of the set’s quarters was produced at the San Francisco Mint and carries the facility’s ‘S’ mint mark. The five coins bear reverse (tails side) designs emblematic of the following locations:
- National Park of American Samoa in the U.S. territory of American Samoa,
- Weir Farm National Historic Site located in the state of Connecticut,
- Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve in the U.S. Virgin Islands territory,
- Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Vermont, and
- Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve of Kansas.
The national sites depicted on this year’s quarters represent the fifty-first through fifty-fifth in the America the Beautiful series. The U.S. Mint program debuted in 2010 and has seen five coin designs annually. It will end next year with one final design. At that time, a site will have been honored from each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories.
All program coins share the same obverse (heads side) portrait of George Washington. The John Flanagan effigy first appeared on the 1932 circulating quarter dollar and has been on the coin, with a few changes, ever since.
The set’s proof coins are created from burnished blanks that are struck multiple times by polished dies to achieve a greater level of detail than found on circulating coins. They are specially noted for their sculpted, frosted foregrounds and mirror-like backgrounds.
Price and Ordering
This year’s quarters proof set is $18.50. Those tracking such things will find that this is an increase from last year’s set which is still available for $15.95.
This CoinNews photo shows the coins, lens, certificate of authenticity, and packaging of the last year’s U.S. Mint 2019 Quarters Proof Set. This year’s set is packaged much the same, showing photos of sites honored on the 2020 quarters.
Order either products from the U.S. Mint’s online catalog of proof sets, or by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).