Owner Comments:
The third year of the new circulating commemorative quarter series will begin with the El Yunque National Forest Quarter for Puerto Rico. This coin will be the first coin of the series to feature a site from one of the United States Territories. The scope of the program was written to include the territories and the District of Columbia.
The reverse design of the coin features animals and foliage that are distinctive to the forest. The Coqui tree frog is on a leaf in the right side of the image, while a Puerto Rican parrot apperas behind an epiphtye plant. Additional native flora are incorporated throughout the image. The inscriptions around the outer edge of the coin read “El Yunque”, “Puerto Rico”, “2012?, and “E Pluribus Unum”. The reverse was designed by Gary Whitley and sculpted by Michael Gaudioso.
On the obverse of the coin is the portrait of George Washington designed by John Flanagan for the 1932 Washington Quarter. The inscriptions read “United States of America”, “Liberty”, “In God We Trust”, and “Quarter Dollar”.
The anticipated release date for the El Yunque National Forest Quarter is January 23, 2012. The coin will also be incorporated into various numismatic offerings from the United States Mint.