Ellis Island America the Beautiful Quarter

The United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program will see five new strikes in 2017, the fourth of which will be the 2017 Ellis Island America the Beautiful Quarter. This strike also marks the thirty-ninth coin of the 56-strike series which debuted in 2010 and ends in 2021.

The final Ellis Island coin design should be unveiled by the US Mint in early 2017. Design candidates for the coin, along with the other 2017 America the Beautiful strikes, will probably be available early in the previous year to allow time for the appropriate groups to review.

Coins honoring Effigy Mounds National Monument of Iowa, the Frederic Douglas National Historic Site in the District of Columbia and the Ozark National Scenic Riverways of Missouri will precede the Ellis strike in 2017. It will be followed by a quarter for the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park of Indiana.

Ellis Island National Monument (Statue of Liberty) of New Jersey

Found at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor, but located mostly within New Jersey jurisdiction, Ellis Island served as a gateway to the promise of America from 1892 until 1954. During this time, an estimated 12 million immigrants passed through its doors resulting in an estimated 40% of the American population being able to trace its ancestry through Ellis.

The island itself was only 3.3 acres originally, but was expanded to 27.5 acres through fill resulting from the construction of the New York subway, ballast from ships and other sources.

Today, Ellis Island National Monument is operated under the Statue of Liberty National Monument, which is located on nearby Liberty Island. The Statue of Liberty has been an iconic representation of America since its dedication in 1886.

Although Ellis Island was added to the national park system, not much was done to restore the structures of the island for nearly a quarter of a century. Finally, in 1990 the main building re-opened as the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

By the 1920’s, changes made in the US Immigration laws would spell the eventual end of operations at Ellis. This is because potential immigrants were now required to be processed at American embassies abroad before making the trip to the United States. This made the en masse inspections of immigrants un-needed.