Mount Rushmore America the Beautiful Quarter

The last United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program coin for 2013 will be the 2013 Mount Rushmore America the Beautiful Quarter. It is also the twentieth of 56 coins that are a part of the series which launched in 2010.

With such a distinctive and well-known subject as Mount Rushmore, it is not hard to guess what the basic design of the quarter honoring it will look like. However, the Mint will probably not release the final design until early in 2013. Design candidates should be available in late 2012 for review by the appropriate parties.

As the last America the Beautiful quarter due out in 2013, it should appear in the fall of that year and will be preceded by four other quarters. These will include coins honoring New Hampshire’s White Mountain Forest, Ohio’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, Nevada’s Great Basin National Park and Maryland’s Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota

Located near Keystone, South Dakota, Mount Rushmore is considered one of the most iconic symbols of the United States.

Initial carving on the monument started in 1927 and did not end until 1941, with all but one season completed under the watchful eye of sculptor Gutzon Borglum. Due to Gutzon’s death, the finishing touches were supervised by his son. In total, around 400 workers helped to sculpt the memorial with an estimated cost $989,992.32 and no deaths.

The memorial consists of 60-foot faces of four of the nation’s best known Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt representing 150 years of the history of the United States.

Since the sculpture is exposed to the elements many wonder if erosion is a concern, however, as it is estimated to only erode 1 inch in 10,000 years, it is not much of a factor.

The mountain itself gets its name from Charles E. Rushmore, a New York City attorney who visited the region in 1885.