# M11071 - 2012 US National Park Quarter Collection, Denver Mint set of 5

About the Program

In 2010, the United States Mint began issuing 56 quarter-dollar coins featuring designs depicting national parks and other national sites as part of the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Program. 2018 marks the ninth year of the program and features the next five quarters.

Site and Design Selection Process

Former Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner selected the list of sites to be honored after consulting with the governor or other chief executive of each host jurisdiction and former Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar, in accordance with America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008.

Site Selection & Design Criteria

Overview
The America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Series Act of 2008 provides for designs to be submitted in accordance with the design selection and approval process developed by, and in sole discretion of, the Secretary of the Treasury.

In General
The designs on the coins issued during this program shall be emblematic of one national site in each host jurisdiction (State/District of Columbia/Territory). The program will honor the national park or other national site in each host jurisdiction deemed most appropriate in terms of natural or historic significance.

Standards

• Selected sites must be ones that can reasonably be expected to translate into dignified designs of which the citizens of the United States can be proud (for example, must be distinctive and readily recognizable as honoring that site).
• Selected sites must be ones that can reasonably be expected to translate into designs that are neither frivolous nor inappropriate. Inappropriate designs include, but are not limited to, those bearing logos or depictions of specific commercial, private, educational, civic, religious, sports, or other organizations whose membership or ownership is not universal.
• Designs must not include any head-and-shoulders portrait or bust of any person, living or dead, nor can designs include a portrait of a living person. Designs must not include an outline or map of a host jurisdiction.
• Designs can be based on the same theme as used in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program, or the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program, but cannot be the same design.

Order & Rate
The national site quarter-dollars will be issued at a rate of five new designs each year in the order in which the selected sites were first established as a national site.

Site Selection Process

Step 1
The United States Mint will initiate the site selection process by contacting the chief executive of each host jurisdiction (State/District of Columbia/Territory) through a formal letter of request to identify one preferred and three ranked alternative national sites in his or her jurisdiction. The United States Mint will provide resources and access to lists of applicable national sites to each chief executive. National sites for consideration include any site under the supervision, management, or conservancy of the National Park Service, the United States Forest Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or any similar department or agency of the Federal government.

Step 2
With due consideration to the requirement that the national site chosen for each host jurisdiction shall be the most appropriate in terms of natural and historic significance, and after giving full and thoughtful consideration to national sites that are not under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, the chief executive will provide the United States Mint his or her recommendation for the national site to be honored on the respective quarter, as well as three recommended alternative national sites in order of preference.

Step 3
The United States Mint will review all the recommendations and will establish a candidate list of the 56 national sites.

Step 4
The United States Mint will consult with the Secretary of the Interior to ensure appropriateness of each of the 56 national site recommendations based on their natural or historic significance, and to validate the date on which each recommended site was established as a national site.

Step 5
Having consulted with each chief executive and the Secretary of the Interior, and having giving full and thoughtful consideration to national sites that are not under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, the United States Mint will reconcile all comments and recommend a final candidate list determined to be the most appropriate in terms of natural and historic significance to the Secretary of the Treasury, who will approve the final national site list. The approved list will also establish the order in which each quarter-dollar is released. Quarter-dollars will be released at a rate of five per year beginning in 2010.