South Dakota America the Beautiful Quarter

The South Dakota America the Beautiful Quarter will be the final release of the series for the year 2013. The America the Beautiful Quarters feature unique designs depicting National Parks and National Sites from each state and territory in the order federally designated.

The site depicted on South Dakota's quarter will be Mount Rushmore National Memorial. This was also depicted on the South Dakota Quarter of the previous State Quarters series. For that depiction, the likenesses of the four American Presidents were shown with a Chinese ring necked pheasant overhead and wheat ears to each side.

The design for the Mount Rushmore America the Beautiful Quarter are still not known. Design candidates will be prepared by the United States Mint based on source materials provided by a federal liaison for the site. These candidates will undergo a series of reviews before the final design is chosen.

About Mount Rushmore National Memorial

There are many people that are very proud of the state that they come from, and they usually find unique ways to display their pride. Doane Robinson, a native of South Dakota born in 1856, wanted to do something significant that would attract visitors to his home state for many years to come. Eventually, this desire would lead to Robinson to carve the faces of our most influential presidents in the side of a mountain in the Black Hills.

Accomplishing Robinson's dream took a lot of inspiration and financial help along the way, and he had many friends that would see him through the project from initial plans to completion. The result is a Mount Rushmore National Memorial that millions of people from all around the world visit every year.

The faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt were slowly etched into the side of this massive precipice by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum. The monument was officially recognized by the federal government in March of 1925, and it has since become a national symbol for the values of patriotism and freedom. A visit to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial will provide tourist with a unique opportunity to marvel at the majesty of this one of a kind sculpture.