August, 18, 2011 – Whitman Publishing has released America’s Beautiful National Parks: A Handbook for Collecting the New National Park Quarters, by Aaron J. McKeon, with a foreword by Kenneth Bressett. The hardcover, 144-page book retails for $19.95, and is available online, and from bookstores and hobby shops nationwide.
Starting last year and running through the year 2021, Americans are enjoying an exciting new coinage program – one that honors national parks and sites in each of the fifty states, plus our five territories and the District of Columbia.
These new quarter dollars follow the popular state and territorial quarters of 1999–2009, which introduced millions of Americans to the joys of coin collecting.
America’s Beautiful National Parks offers awe-inspiring panoramic photographs and stories about each site honored in the new coin series. Readers also learn about the quarters themselves – how their designs are chosen, how they go from sketch to final layout, a gallery of the program’s first coins, and more.
“America’s Beautiful National Parks is more than just a visually stunning art book with historical essays,” said Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker. “It’s a handbook for outdoor adventurers as well as coin collectors.”
Appendix D offers a “Traveler’s Checklist of U.S. National Parks and Sites,” listing all of our nationally protected areas. Readers can focus on their home state and check each local park as they visit them. Or they can expand their scope nationwide and check the parks off as they learn about each with their children or grandchildren.
“Many people who would not have looked twice at their pocket change will become interested in coin collecting because of this U.S. Mint program,” writes McKeon. “They will be hooked by the history, artistry, culture, and friendships that the hobby offers.”
If you want to know more about the book, please click here.