2013 America the Beautiful Quarter Design Proposals
The United States Mint released design candidate images for the 2013 America the Beautiful Quarters in November of 2011. The candidates had been prepared by the United States Mint based on criteria and source materials provided by a federal liaison to the site. For the fourth year of the series, the quarters will feature White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire, Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial in Ohio, Great Basin National Park in Nevada, Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Maryland, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota.
Three to five different design candidates were provided for each of the five quarters. These were reviewed by the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC), who were tasked with recommending a design to the Secretary of the Treasury, who has final authority over the design selection. In some cases recommendations were not provided, rather a new set of design candidates was requested.
Images of the design candidates for the 2013 America the Beautiful Quarters are shown below.
2013 White Mountain National Forest Quarter
The design candidates generally featured images of the forest with mountains in the background. Three candidates incorporated wildlife in the foreground, a strategy used on other releases of the series featuring vast areas of wilderness. The CFA recommended an image dominated by trees with mountains visible in the background. The CCAC recommended an alternate design where an opening in the grouping of trees frames a depiction of the lake and mountain in the background.
2013 Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial Quarter
Only three design candidates were provided by the United States Mint for the Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial. Both the CFA and CCAC rejected all three designs for their complex layering of design elements and unbalanced composition. A second set of design candidates was later provided by the US Mint for review.
Round Two of Design Candidates for Perry’s Victory Quarter
The US Mint provided an additional eight design candidates for the Perry’s Victory International Peace Monument. Some of these took alternate renditions of previous designs. Others provide views of the monument either a wide view against the ocean or a close up view of the top. Three designs included a banner with the words “Don’t Give Up the Ship”.
2013 Great Basin National Park Quarter
The design candidates for Great Basin National Park were met with a warmer reception. Each design features the bristlecone pines for which the area is famous, with one incorporating a ram. The CFA and CCAC both favored the design providing a full view of one of the bristlecone pines on rocky terrain.
2013 Fort McHenry National Monument Quarter
All four of the design candidates provided for the Fort McHenry National Monument include the use of one or more human figures, with only peripheral view of the fort. Both the CCAC and CFA did not make an official recommendation from the provided designs. The US Mint will provide a second set of design candidates for review.
Round Two of Designs for Fort McHenry Quarter
An additional eleven design candidates were provided to represent the Fort McHenry National Monument. A large number of the new candidates provided an aerial view of the plan of the five-sided fort. Many of the designs incorporated the Star Spangled Banner, as the famous battle at Fort McHenry formed the basis for the national anthem written by Francis Scott Key.
2013 Mount Rushmore National Memorial Quarter
Three out of the four designs provided to represent Mount Rushmore took a nontraditional approach, rather than a full view of the memorial. The CFA recommended a design portraying the construction of the memorial, as the strongest design. The CCAC preferred the more traditional full view of the memorial with mountains in the background.
