2011 Vicksburg America the Beautiful Quarter
Design Candidates for Vicksburg America the Beautiful Quarter
The 2011 Vicksburg America the Beautiful Quarter will represent the fourth release of the quarter series for 2011 and the ninth release of the series overall. Vicksburg National Military Park was announced as the site selected for the state of Mississippi on September 10, 2009 along with the register of sites for the complete coin series.
Design candidates for the Vicksburg Quarter depict scenes from the famous Civil War campaign or monuments which now reside in the park. One of the most striking images is a depiction of the USS Cairo. This design MS-02 was favored by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, as it was considered specific and surprising, as well as one of the only opportunities to depict the Navy on a quarter. The Commission of Fine Arts also reviewed the designs and didn’t favor any particular one, but “supported” the design MS-04.
America the Beautiful Quarters will pair a restored version of the George Washington portrait as it appeared on the 1932 Washington Quarter with a reverse design depicting a National Park or National Site in each state, territory, and the District of Columbia.
About Vicksburg National Military Park
The Vicksburg National Military Park was established by Congress on February 21, 1899 to commemorative the siege and defense of Vicksburg. The park now includes 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 144 emplaced cannons, a restored Union gunboat, and 20 miles of reconstructed trenches. The park also includes the Vicksburg National Cemetery, which was established by Congress years earlier.
In the early wars of this country, it was often hard for the military to see that those who died in battle were given the honor and proper burial that they deserved. Especially in the Civil War, soldiers were usually hastily buried in the ground near the spot where they died. If it was possible, their fellow soldiers would try to mark the spot with stones or with wood that had been etched with their name.
In 1866, Congress agreed to declare one hundred and sixteen acres near Vicksburg Mississippi as a National Cemetery, and efforts got under way to exhume and recover the remains of those Union soldiers that had died in the Southeast during the Civil War.
Vicksburg is currently the largest National Cemetery in the country, and holds the remains of over 17,000 soldiers. Over seventy five percent of the graves at Vicksburg contain the remains of unidentified soldiers.
