Effigy Mounds quarter debuts
Nearly 2,000 people were on hand Feb. 7 for the launch in Waukon, Iowa, of the first quarter design of 2017.
Over 450 people joined 1,250 students for the ceremonial introduction of the Effigy Mounds National Monument quarter.
It is the first of five designs to be issued by the United States Mint in 2017.
“The Effigy Mounds quarter design embodies the spirit of this sacred landscape,” said Marc Landry, Superintendent of the mint at Philadelphia. “This new coin honors a special place where ancient people changed the landscape of their world in the most extraordinary way.”
Members of local Native American tribes attended, the Mint said.
A video message from native Iowan astronaut Peggy Whitson from the International Space Station was well received, the Mint reported.
The crowd was entertained by fourthgrade students singing the “Nifty Fifty States.”
On the reverse of the new quarter is an aerial view of mounds in the Marching Bear Group with EFFIGY MOUNDS, IOWA, 2017, and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
During the event, there was a special recognition of fourth-generation Iowan Richard Masters. He designed the new quarter. He is an artist in the Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program and has designed coins and medals for more than 10 years.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the public was able to exchange folding money for the new quarters at face value.
A $10 bill could obtain a roll of 40 of the new coins. When the process was finished, a local bank had provided $23,000 of the 2017-D coins.
This article was originally printed in Numismatic News. >> Subscribe today.
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