Fort Moultrie / Sumter America the Beautiful Quarter

The final 2016 strike of the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program will be the 2016 Fort Moultrie America the Beautiful Quarter. The Moultrie strike will also be the thirty-fifth coin of the 56 quarter dollar series which launched in 2010 and runs through 2021.

Fort Moultrie’s coin design will probably not be known until early in 2016. That is because the Mint typically only releases final design information on the America the Beautiful quarters in the year upon which they will be released. Design candidates, however, should be reviewed the year before by the appropriate parties.

Four quarter dollars will precede the Moultrie strike in 2016 including ones honoring Shawnee National Forest of Illinois, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park of Kentucky, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park of West Virginia and Theodore Roosevelt National Park of North Dakota.

Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Park) of South Carolina

Fort Moultrie was the first fort built on Sullivan’s Island to protect the port city of Charleston, South Carolina.

It is said that when the British forces fired on the yet to be completed or named fort in 1776, the soft palmetto logs absorbed the shock and little damage occurred forcing the British warships to retire nine hours later. In recognition of his successful defense of the fort, it was named in honor of the American commander of the battle, William Moultrie.

These palmetto logs are said to be the source of inspiration for the South Carolina flag and nickname “The Palmetto State.”

From 1809-1860, Fort Moultrie changed very little with most resources going to the newer nearby Fort Sumter which was charged with the main defense duties of the city.

In the tense days before the beginning of the American Civil War, Moultrie’s Union commander was the only one of four in the city to not surrender to Confederate forces. He shortly moved his troops to the stronger Fort Sumter only to be shelled into submission a few months later.