People are always searching for that one special Smoky Mountain souvenir. If you have regularly vacationed to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, your shelves and drawers are probably stocked full of Smoky Mountain t-shirts, coffee mugs and refrigerator magnets. Well, no more! The Great Smoky Mountains National Park will now be on the face of a brand new 2014 quarter, a part of the United State’ Mint’s America The Beautiful quarters program.
Unveiled on January 29th, the quarters are now in regular circulation. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park quarters is the twenty-first out of fifty-six new quarters to be issued, with others including Arches National Park in Utah and Everglades National Park in Florida. New quarters often take a long time to circulate and show up in spare change, so collectors are encouraged to order the Great Smoky Mountains National Park quarter straight from the US Mint.
The quarter features a highly recognizable historic log cabin, nestled in the forests of the Smoky Mountains, framed by a hawk circling overhead. The inscriptions on the quarters read “Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, 2014” and “E Pluribus Unum,” a Latin phrase meaning “out of many, one.”
The quarter’s design was selected using recommendations from the US Commission of Fine Arts, and US Mint, and other committees designated to find the perfect coin for release. The US Mint releases only five coins from the series annually, with each design honoring a national park or historic site on United States soil.
These quarters are guaranteed to be a hit with collectors and Smoky Mountain lovers alike. If you’re looking for a little, special souvenir from your Pigeon Forge, Tennessee vacation, this could be just the thing for you! These quarters will be a wonderful memento to take home from your Smoky Mountain adventures, a little piece of memory you can tuck away for the years to come.