Olympic National Park Quarter to be June 13th

Starting June 13th, start inspecting your quarters when you are given change. You may be the recipient of the newly released 2011 Olympic National Park quarter.

The Olympic National Park quarter (shown at right) is the eighth release of the America the Beautiful National Park Quarter program, a follow-up to the wildly successful state quarter program that began in 1999. There will be 56 releases over twelve years - featuring national parks or national sites from each state, U.S. territory and the District of Columbia.

The new quarters will be presented in order of when they were first designated by the federal government. First up in 2010 was Hot Springs National Park, followed by Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks. You can see the entire list of chosen national sites, and the year the quarters will be released, here.

The United States Mint chose the design of a Roosevelt elk stepping out onto a gravel bar along the Hoh River with Mount Olympus in the background. It was chosen over three other designs that featured only landscapes.

If you don't want to wait until your favorite barista hands you Washington's new quarter, you can attend an even in Port Angeles on Wednesday and swap your money for a roll of the new 25 cent pieces. It will take place at 11am at the Port Angeles City Pier. Kids 18 and younger will receive their very own shiny quarter just for showing up. More details are here.