United States Mint launches 46th America the Beautiful Quarters Program coin

A crowd of 2,600 people attended the February 6, 2019, ceremonial launch of the Lowell National Historical Park quarter in Lowell, MA. The coin is the 46th release in the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Program. U.S. Mint photo by Jill Westeyn.

New quarter pays homage to the role of Lowell, MA, in America’s Industrial Revolution

Washington — The United States Mint officially launched the America the Beautiful Quarters Program coin honoring Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts. This is the first quarter of 2019 and the 46th coin overall in the program.

Hover to zoom.

The reverse (tails) design of the quarter representing this national site reflects Lowell’s role in the Industrial Revolution. The design depicts a mill girl working at a power loom with its prominent circular bobbin battery. A view of Lowell, including the Boott Mill clock tower, is seen through the window.

Marc Landry, Acting Associate Director of the Numismatic and Bullion Directorate, United States Mint, addresses the crowd gathered at the Lowell National Historical Park quarter launch ceremony February 6, 2019, in Lowell, MA. U.S. Mint photo by Jill Westeyn.

According to Marc Landry, the Mint’s Acting Associate Director for the Numismatic and Bullion Directorate:

The depiction of the mill girl takes us back to the past at the forefront of America’s Industrial Revolution. The physical coin takes us to present day manufacturing processes; and finally, the coin in its entirety takes us into the future—inspiring tomorrow’s innovators, workforce, and generations to follow.

Marc Landry, Acting Associate Director of the Numismatic and Bullion Directorate, United States Mint, presents Lowell National Historical Park quarters struck on the first day of production to National Park Service Deputy Regional Director Rose Fennell and Lowell National Historical Park Superintendent Celeste Bernardo during the February 6, 2019 launch ceremony in Lowell, MA. U.S. Mint photo by Sharon McPike.

More than 1,500 enthusiastic school-aged children from the Lowell area celebrated the release of the new quarter. Guest speakers included former Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, National Park Service Regional Deputy Director Rose Fennell, and park superintendent Celeste Bernardo. An exchange of $10 rolls of the new quarter rounded out the event.

Rolls of Lowell National Historical Park quarters are exchanged following the February 6, 2019, launch ceremony in Lowell, MA. U.S. Mint photo by Jill Westeyn.

Products featuring the Lowell National Historical Park quarter are available for purchase directly from the Mint’s online catalog or by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).

New Lowell National Historical Park quarters line the trunk used during the ceremonial launch on February 6, 2019, in Lowell, MA. U.S. Mint photo by Jill Westeyn.

The America the Beautiful Quarters Program is a 12-year initiative that honors 56 national parks and other national sites authorized by Public Law 110-456. Each year until 2020, the public will see five new national sites depicted on the reverses (tails sides) of the America the Beautiful quarters coins, with a final coin scheduled for release in 2021. The Mint is issuing these quarters in the order in which the national sites were officially established.

About the United States Mint

Congress created the United States Mint in 1792, and the Mint became part of the Department of the Treasury in 1873. As the Nation’s sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage, the Mint is responsible for producing circulating coinage for the Nation to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint also produces numismatic products, including Proof, Uncirculated, and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; silver and bronze medals; and silver and gold bullion coins. Its numismatic programs are self-sustaining and operate at no cost to taxpayers.

Press release courtesy of the United States Mint.

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Comments

  1. John Q. Coinage says

    When a National Park series get down to depicting INDUSTRIAL endeavors (don’t care about the historical designation..) it is not part of ATB, maybe the innovations series but this is silly IMHO…. I am surpirsed it’s not a bird operating the Bingo wheel!

  2. just another dave in pa says

    Totally agree that this is not an ATB coin when Mass has so much beauty from Cape Cod to the Berkshires

    but..

    The Bingo wheel has a real nice 3d effect on the 5 oz puck.

  3. Anthony says

    I agree with you J.Q.C.
    When the America The Beautiful series was first proposed I was very enthusiastic about it and they it could be a wonderful display of the natural beauty of the country. We got some really good ones but also some very bad ones of monuments, cemetery and other man-made objects. The Lowell, MA coin celebrates something very opposite to beauty… the American Industrial Revolution, the EXPENSE of preserving the environment!

    The upcoming American Innovation dollar coin series is BOUND to celebrate the American Industrial landscape even further (along with the rise of American consumerism). Very hard to imagine children wanting to pursue collecting such things.

  4. John Q. Coinage says

    Dave & Anthony, @ least it’s not a …bird spinning the wheel!!! WHy not a Tom Brady ATB as well…..he is a monument to consistency & Mass.achutettcehsssss

  5. Einbahnstrasse says

    Aw, and here I was being glad to see an ATB design that wasn’t Yet Another Nature Scene. 🙁

    When the series started I was afraid we were going to get a huge number of essentially similar scenic views that’d be unrecognizable as any place in particular when rendered at the size of a quarter. So I’m always happy to see something distinctive. Distinctive *can* be nature (see the Hawaii design…though I’ve never actually seen one in circulation) but usually isn’t. In general I think the ATB coins depicting “man-made objects” have generally been the superior coinage designs, even if they’re not based on parks I’m especially eager to visit. I’d love to visit the Grand Canyon someday but it doesn’t look like much on a one-inch circle. I don’t really care about George Rogers Clark but he makes for a much more memorable coin.

  6. mattarch says

    Is creating National Park, such as Yosemite, and then having private companies run them an American Innovation? Maybe there could be an American Innovation coin featuring a National Park.

  7. smalltimecollector says

    @ mattarch

    perhaps Ansel Adams, or Muir at Yosemite, Roebling at Brooklyn, Ellis at Golden Gate, Harley and Davidson in a shed, Ford and his assembly line, Jobs and Wozniak in a garage., Audubon, Parrish, Rockwell at the drawing board, the silver spike. Edison alone could be a series, as could great sculptors like Remington. There is much interesting and familiar subject matter to be considered. Truly is time for the mint to modernize, but without becoming trinketry. I’d be pretty sure there would be to much to be considered in view or royalties, etc.

  8. The RCB says

    I overheard a grizzled old man talking to his grandson, fondly recounting a time long ago when there was an eagle on the back of the quarter and it was there ever year. It’s been so long he was unsure if it was just a distant dream…

  9. The RCB says

    He fumbled through his pocket chain for evidence, but all he could find on the back of quarters were rocks, people, and the occasional duck.

  10. Sith says

    Its a dream once the Park Quarters are over they are gong with the background of the Delaware quarter (Washington crossing the Delaware)

  11. johnaz says

    I see a lot of young people in the photo at the launches,how many are coin people or there for a free .25.

  12. John Q. Coinage says

    mattarch, the tunong over of PUBLIC parks to corporations for THEIR Profit is disgusting. @ Yosemite the scum changed the native & historical names of buildings & threatened to SUE the HPS if they dared call the Ahwanee Hotel the Ahwanee, etc. A symptom of the GOP & Trumplike goal to make everything a profit based effort….from private PRISONS and more it is afleecing of the taxpayer..$ that should go to the public benefit/general finding, goes to ARMARK or other Corp shill who give the poli Million$ to get the vendorship$…..

    As to the youngsters & coins, I gave a presentation on Coin Collecting to my sons 3rd grade class, free ATbs & Buiff nickles, only 2 kids cared to ask a ?- & were interested- REALLY….both were girls!!

  13. So Krates says

    “…the background of the Delaware quarter (Washington crossing the Delaware)”

    That scene is actually depicted on the New Jersey quarter and would make a fine reverse for the rest of the series. General Washington is in fact crossing the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. There are eponymous parks on both sides of the river.

  14. Jerry Diekmann says

    I don’t think we need a second “Washington crossing the Delaware” quarter. The Mint already made millions of these New Jersey quarters in 1999. In 2099 they still won’t be worth much more than a quarter, and they would have to be uncirculated. Circulated 1965, 1966, and 1967 quarters will probably be worth just a quarter 200 years from now. To quote the late Carl Sagan,”billions and billions” of them were minted and they were never stars for any coin collector.

    But I am glad that both Pennsylvania and New Jersey have memorialized this event with parks on both sides of this very wide river. It would have been a epic struggle to cross that river in the winter so long ago, much less surprising the mercenary German (Hessian) troops who were holed up in Trenton for the winter. It was a victory the Continentals needed very badly.

  15. So Krates says

    While it does span about five miles at its mouth (near Bombay Hook), the river is closer to 500 feet wide in the area of the Crossing. If you should happen to find yourself near there, Bowman’s Tower offers a great view where you can take in the whole scene.

  16. Jerry Diekmann says

    Thank you, Socrates. Maybe I’ll make it back to Philly again sometime. I certainly enjoyed my mone day there. We live in southern California. My wife Valerie, a RN, was attending a Nurses Congress and they were held every two years and usually in Washington, DC so the nurses would have a chance to meet with their Congresspeople or their staff. I went along on several trips and got to see a lot of DC on my own. But on one trip, I decided to take the train to Philadelphia and experiencewhat Joe Biden did every day, although he got off at an earlier stop in Wilmington, DC. Got to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Broad Street, the Ben Franklin bridge across the Delaware River, a guided trip around the city, Ben Franklin’s grave, the church he attended, Betsy Ross’ house, the Mint (just in and out) and even a genuine Philly cheese steak! I made the most of the trip and got back to DC Union Station to enjoy dinner with some of the nurses in the southern California delegation. Great memories!

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