Quarter Dollar 2011 Gettysburg National Military Park, Coin from United States - detailed information

The Quarter Dollar is a United States coin worth 25 cents. It has been produced on and off since 1796 and consistently since 1831. From its inception until 1964, the denomination was issued in silver; it underwent several design changes, including finally the silver Washington quarter (1932 - 1964) featuring the first President of the United States on the obverse and the American Eagle clutching a bunch of arrows on the reverse. Initially meant as a one-year design to commemorate 200 years since the birth of George Washington in 1932, the obverse became the definitive design for the denomination and has been used ever since. The reverse was issued in this form until 1998, after which time a large number of circulating commemoratives started being issued instead; the State Quarters series of 50 coins featuring each State was issued from 1999 to 2008; in 2009, a six-coin series represented the District of Columbia and five US territories.

The America the Beautiful Quarters Program (abbreviated ATB) running from 2010 until 2021 was then introduced; it is a 56 quarter-dollar coin series featuring designs depicting national parks and other national sites in each state, federal district or territory.

The Gettysburg National Military Park quarter is the first of 2011 and the sixth overall in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program; it was released on 24 January 2011 and represents the state of Pennsylvania.

The Battle of Gettysburg, the Union victory in the summer of 1863 that ended General Robert E. Lee’s second and most ambitious invasion of the North, was a turning point in the American Civil War. Often referred to as the “High Water Mark of the Rebellion", it was among the war’s bloodiest battles, with 51,000 casualties. It also provided President Abraham Lincoln with the setting for his most famous address. It was the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, a group of concerned citizens, that first set out in 1864 to preserve the battlefield as a memorial to the Union troops who fought there. The park is well-known for its many monuments and memorials, the majority of which were placed by veterans of the battle. On February 11, 1895, the battlefield was transferred to the federal government as Gettysburg National Military Park (28 Stat. 651).

Gettysburg National Military Park (Pennsylvania) Quarter Dollars issued in 2011 have now been in circulation for 14 years.