The U.S. Mint has been introducing different designs of the quarter dollar for years. It started in 1999 with designs from all 50 states, which lasted until 2008. The popularity of this program with collectors led the mint to try and find a new series of coins.
In 2010, the America the Beautiful series of quarter-dollar coins was launched. Starting with Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite, the major National Parks were the first ones represented. Ten years later, we’re getting to the so-called “bottom of the barrel.”
Long before coronavirus, the coin set to be released in March 2020 was celebrating the National Park of American Samoa. While this is one park I’d love to visit, the choice of image to represent the park was a case of horrible timing.
According to the US Mint’s website:
The reverse (tails) design depicts a Samoan fruit bat mother hanging in a tree with her pup. The image evokes the remarkable care and energy that this species puts into their offspring. The design is intended to promote awareness to the species’ threatened status due to habitat loss and commercial hunting. The National Park of American Samoa is the only park in the United States that is home to the Samoan fruit bat.
I’m not saying that coronavirus came from American Samoa or the Samoan fruit bat. However, issuing a new coin featuring any type of bat, which are presumably reservoirs for viruses like COVID-19, is an unfortunate case of terrible timing.
#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands #wearamask
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
1 comment
The unfortunate timing has more to do with a lot of places not accepting cash at the moment. The fact that a fruit bat is pictured on the coin itself is much ado about nothing.