Samoan fruit bat coming to U.S. quarters
A new quarter is headed into circulation next month and it may qualify as the cutest quarter yet.
The quarter, part of the America the Beautiful series, has a reverse-side depiction of a Samoan fruit bat mother hanging upside-down in a tree with her pup. The coin is scheduled for release on Feb. 3.
The quarter celebrates the National Park of American Samoa, which is located 2,600 miles southwest of Hawaii and is one of the most remote parks in the U.S.
The reverse design depicts a Samoan fruit bat mother hanging in a tree with her pup. It evokes the remarkable care and energy that this species puts into their offspring. https://t.co/FZr4GxX4vV #AtBFinal6 @NPamericansamoa pic.twitter.com/1PwBOHP5LD
— United States Mint (@usmint) January 6, 2020
There are five new designs in the series that will be released this year: the National Park of American Samoa (American Samoa), Weir Farm National Historic Site (Connecticut), Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (U.S. Virgin Islands), Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (Vermont), and Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (Kansas), according to the mint.
The design for the final coin in the program will honor the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Alabama and is set for release in 2021.
All the coins feature the 1932 portrait of George Washington.
The America the Beautiful series launched in 2010.
Frank Carnevale is the TribLive multimedia editor. He started at the Trib in 2016 and has been part of several news organizations, including the Providence Journal and Orlando Sentinel. He can be reached at fcarnevale@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.