Mint rolls out Glacier Park coin

A piece of Glacier National Park worth 25 cents soon will be available as the United States rolls out a commemorative quarter for the park.

The Glacier coin will be one of seven this year in the U.S. Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters Program.

The coin will be released at a ceremony April 13 at 1 p.m. in the Columbia Falls High School Gymnasium.

Speaking at the ceremony will be B.B. Craig, associate director of marketing for the U.S. Mint, and Glacier Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright. After brief remarks, there will be a coin exchange where the public can buy $10 rolls of the new quarters and children 18 and under will receive free quarters.

The new coin features a mountain goat surveying the high country with Reynolds Mountain in the background.

The inscriptions are “Glacier, Montana, 2011” and “E Pluribus Unum.”

“The design of the coin is one of the iconic views of Glacier National Park and will be very familiar to the thousands of visitors that drive over Going-to-the-Sun Road each summer,” Superintendent Cartwright said. “Fans of the park can now carry a little bit of Glacier with them in their pockets.” 

Cartwright praised the park’s community partners and Columbia Falls High School.

Similar ceremonies are being held around the country over the next few months to recognize coins that have been minted for Gettysburg National Military Park, Mount Hood National Forest, Grand Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Hot Springs National Park.

The day before the ceremony in Columbia Falls, the U.S. Mint will hold a coin forum at 5 p.m. in the Community Building at Glacier Park headquarters. The forum is an opportunity for the public to learn about upcoming U.S. Mint programs and to provide input.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.