Glacier America the Beautiful Quarter

Highlighting one of America’s crown jewels, the seventh coin to be issued in the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program is the 2011 Glacier America the Beautiful Quarter, featuring Montana’s Glacier National Park.

Glacier National Park Quarter Design MT-01 (Click to Enlarge)

Glacier National Park Quarter Design MT-02 (Click to Enlarge)

Glacier National Park Quarter Design MT-03 (Click to Enlarge)

Three design candidates for the quarters, shown above, were judged by the Citizen’s Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) and the United States Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) in January 2010. Both organizations are responsible for recommending coinage designs to the Secretary of the Treasury, who is ultimately responsible for selecting the final designs for America the Beautiful Quarters.

The CCAC and CFA preferred and chose design MT-03 depicting the Rocky Mountain Goat. The CFA provided the following reason for the selection.

"The Commission recommended alternative #3, commenting that the Rocky Mountain goat is emblematic of the park and provides a desirable foreground feature that gives scale to the sweeping vista of the glaciated landscape."

The launch date for the coin will occur in 2011, following the Gettysburg National Military Park Quarter. The final design selected for the quarter will likely be made public by the end of 2010 or very early 2011.

Glacier National Park in Montana

Spectacular scenery fills over a million acres of Glacier National Park nestled in the Rocky Mountains of northwest Montana. Thousands of years ago, huge glaciers filled the valleys with ice, and as they melted, they carved out the majestic mountains seen today. Now, only a few glaciers are left and still actively shrinking.

During the early American West, European explorers and trappers found their way to the area. By then, it was home to Blackfeet, Salish, and Kootenai Indians. In 1891, the Great Northern Railway cut a path through the pristine forest to build a railroad and great lodges for visitors. Some Indians could be found at the lodges dancing and entertaining guests.

Early conservationists who visited the glaciers in the 1890s were impressed with the beauty and began asking for congressional help to preserve the area. The first success came as the inclusion of the glacier region in the Lewis and Clark Forest Reserve, in 1897. A few years later, a descriptive essay titled, "The Crown of the Continent," by a well known conservationist of the time, George Bird Grinnell, further publicized the area.  In 1910, President Taft signed the bill establishing the region as Glacier National Park.

The glacier region extends beyond the US and Canadian border. On the Canadian side, it is called Waterton Lakes National Park. In 1932, the two parks were united as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. The two parks have also been declared Biosphere Reserves and a World Heritage Site.

Today, two million people visit the park each year. The park remains open year round, but some visitor facilities close for the winter season. All facilities are generally open from May through September.

Entrance fees vary based on length of stay, time of year, and method of entrance – like traveling on foot or by vehicle. The park boasts over 700 miles of trails for hiking, and for vehicles,  one of the best known roads is the Going-to-the-Sun Road. It spans 50 miles through the heart of the park, following the shores of the two largest lakes in the park, and winds around mountainsides.

Since weather in mountains can produce a variety of weather conditions, the park advises visitors to dress in layers. In the summer, the valley temperatures can exceed 90 degrees F, and 10 to 15 degrees cooler at higher elevations. Overnight lows can drop near 20 degrees, and it may snow anytime, especially above the tree line.

Lake McDonald, the largest lake in the park, is 10 miles long and 472 feet deep.