Owner Comments:
The 2011 Gettysburg National Military Park Quarter represented the sixth overall release within the new circulating commemorative quarter dollar series. The America the Beautiful Quarters Program honors National Parks and sites from each of the states and territories, presented in the order originally federally designated.
When the site selection for Pennsylvania was announced by the United States Mint, the Governor remarked, “Gettysburg National Military Park – the nation’s most visited Civil War battlefield — is deeply moving and yet extremely beautiful park and a true national and Pennsylvania treasure.”
The United States Mint had prepared four initial design candidates for the Gettysburg Quarter, which were reviewed by the Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. The CCAC spent the greater portion of an entire meeting discussing the designs due to the importance of Gettysburg as the turning point of the Civil War. After much deliberation, they supported a design representing Pickett’s Charge.
This was the design ultimately selected by the Secretary of the Treasury. The 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Monument at the battle line of the Union Army at Cemetery Ridge is the central focus of the design. Surrounding inscriptions include “Gettysburg”, “Pennsylvania”, “2011?, and “E Pluribus Unum”.
On the obverse of the coin is a portrait of George Washington common to all issues of the series with the inscriptions “United States of America”, “Liberty”, “In God We Trust”, and “Quarter Dollar”.
The Gettysburg National Park Quarter was officially released on January 24, 2011. The coins were issued for circulation and sold directly by the United States Mint incorporated into various numismatic products.