Vt. to be featured on 2020 quarter
By JOSH O'GORMAN Rutland Herald STAFF
WOODSTOCK — All the beauty and history that is Vermont will be immortalized and shared with the rest of the country as part of a new coin program.
The U.S. Mint is unrolling its America the Beautiful Quarters Program, which will feature a national park or other national site from each of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.
For Vermont, the choice was easy. The Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park is the only national park in the state, but the award is still an honor for the park, which epitomizes Vermont with its sugar maples, 400-year-old hemlocks, rambling stone walls and covered bridges.
"We're very proud to represent Vermont in any capacity, and especially on a coin that will be in people's pockets for years to come," said Park Superintendent Rolf Diamant.
The program is similar to the 50-states coin program that began in 1999. Just as that program released the quarters in the order the states joined the union — Vermont, as the 14th state, came out in 2001 — the national sites quarters will be released in the order the site was first established.
Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, established in 1832, will be the first of five coins released in 2010, along with Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Yosemite National Park in California, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona and Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon.
Vermonters will have to wait 11 years to see their coin in circulation. The Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park was established in 1992, and as one of the most recent sites, the coin will not be released until 2020, but the long wait is no reason to not celebrate, Diamant said.
"It's the thought that counts, and with something as universal as a coin that is used throughout the country, it's nice to know a piece of Vermont will be represented," he said.
Local coin collectors also applauded the program.
"I think it's a good educational tool. That's the reason they had the 50-state program, which was an overwhelming success," said Dieter Kaltz of South Barre, a coin dealer and member of the Central Vermont Coin Club. "I think it will be a good teaching tool because I don't think they're learning enough history in school."
Collectors can enroll in several programs to receive the new quarters. For more information, visit
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/NSQuartersProgram/josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
