2018 Pictured Rocks Nat'l Lakeshore - Denver - Gold Plated

2018 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Quarter
Forty-First in the America the Beautiful Quarters Collections

Pictured Rocks was established in 1966 as the first National Lakeshore; it preserves a 42-mile-long strip of the Lake Superior lakeshore in northern Michigan that includes beaches, sand dunes, and colorful sandstone cliffs that rise up to 200 feet from the lakeshore. Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow famously staged his 1855 epic poem “The Song of Hiawatha” in the area that is now known as Pictured Rocks.

The park gets its name from the colorful rock formations. Sandstone forms layers of different colors, while minerals leaching out of the rocks produce dramatic streaks of colors such as red, yellow, blue, green, white, and black.

In addition to the picturesque shoreline, Pictured Rocks includes hardwood forests with numerous waterfalls, streams, and lakes, while Grand Sable Dunes features sand dunes that rise up to 300 feet and the Beaver Basin Wilderness covers almost 12,000 acres and protects pristine lakes, wetlands, and forests. Wildlife can be found throughout Pictured Rocks, including black bears, bald eagles, white-tailed deer, and moose.

Among the park’s most popular sights is Au Sable Light Station, which has been an operational lighthouse since 1874; it is one of several lighthouses at Pictured Rocks that together once protected shipping in Lake Superior from the treacherous shoreline.

The reverse of the 2018 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Quarter features one of the park’s most recognizable landmarks: the white pine tree that grows on the almost bare surface of Chapel Rock at Chapel Beach.

U.S. Mint artists created 13 different design suggestions for the coin, from which the final design was selected. All of the designs focused on rock formations on the shoreline, with two others also highlighting different views of Chapel Rock. Five of the designs included people in kayaks to show the best way to explore the beauty of the park, while five depicted views of the iconic Lover’s Leap Arch, a natural archway that allows kayakers to paddle through the cliffs. Some of the designs also included waterfalls and wildlife.

This is the Denver Minted gold plated quarter in capsule.