Quarter Dollar 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical 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 Chaco Culture National Historical Park quarter is the second to be released in 2012 and the twelfth overall in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program; it was released on 2 April 2012 and represents the state of New Mexico.

This historical park in New Mexico features Chaco Canyon, which was a major centre of Puebloan culture between A.D. 850 and 1250. The Chacoan sites are part of the homeland of Pueblo Indian peoples of New Mexico, the Hopi Indians of Arizona and the Navajo Indians of the southwest. Chaco Canyon was the cultural centre of a system of communities linked by road and trading networks across a 40,000 square-mile region in the Four Corners area from A.D. 850 to 1150. Chaco is remarkable for its multi-storied public buildings called “great houses", enormous circular ceremonial subterranean structures called “great kivas", and distinctive architecture featuring a notable concentration of petroglyphs and pictographs. The Chacoan people combined pre-planned architectural designs, astronomical alignments, geometry, landscaping and engineering to create an ancient urban centre of spectacular public architecture. It was first established as a national site on March 11, 1907 (35 Stat. 2119).

Chaco Culture National Historical Park (New Mexico) Quarter Dollars issued in 2012 have now been in circulation for 12 years.