United States Mint to Launch First Quarter of 2016 Honoring Shawnee National Forest Feb. 4

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US Mint

Jan 21, 2016, 17:00 ET

Washington, DC (PRWEB) January 21, 2016 -- The United States Mint will join the National Forest Service to launch the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program coin honoring Shawnee National Forest Thursday, Feb. 4, at 10 a.m. Central Time (CT). The ceremony will be held at the Southeastern Illinois College Deaton Gymnasium in Harrisburg, IL. Invited guests include U.S. Senators Mark Kirk and Dick Durbin, U.S. Congressman Mike Bost, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, and Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner. The free event will conclude with a coin exchange, where the public can trade cash for $10 rolls of newly minted Shawnee National Forest quarters.

WHAT: Shawnee National Forest Quarter Launch Ceremony and Coin Exchange

WHO:     Dean Bidle, Program Manager–Numismatic Packaging Planning, United States Mint
                 Allen Nicholas, Supervisor, Shawnee National Forest
                 Matt Rice, District Director for U.S. Congressman Mike Bost
                 Deb Detmers, District Director for Congressman John Shimkus
                 Ben Barnes, Second Chief, Shawnee Tribe
                 George Blanchard, Representative, Eastern Shawnee Tribe
                 Cindy Cain, Executive Director, Southernmost Illinois Tourism Bureau
                 Todd Carr, President, Southernmost Illinois Tourism

INVITED: U.S. Senator Mark Kirk
                 U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
                 U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell
                 Bruce Rauner, Governor, State of Illinois

WHEN:     10 a.m. CT, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016

WHERE: Southeastern Illinois College
                 Deaton Gymnasium
                 3575 College Road
                 Harrisburg, IL 62946

Coin Forum
The United States Mint will host a coin forum the evening before the launch ceremony—5–6 p.m. (CT) Wednesday, Feb. 3—at Shawnee National Forest Headquarters, 50 Highway 145 South, Harrisburg, IL 62946. The coin forum is an opportunity for members of the public to express their views about future coinage, and learn about upcoming United States Mint coin programs and initiatives.

The quarter honoring Shawnee National Forest is the 31st release in the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Program, a 12-year initiative to honor 56 national parks and other national sites authorized by Public Law 110-456. Each year, the public will see five new national sites depicted on the reverses (tails sides) of the America the Beautiful Quarters. The United States Mint is issuing these quarters in the order in which the national sites were officially established.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
• B-roll of the Shawnee National Forest quarter is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj1KS6cWmkU.
• An interview with Shawnee National Forest quarter Sculptor-Engraver Jim Licaretz is available at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DouU5yWJ4Cg.
• A digital image of the Shawnee National Forest quarter is available at http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/?action=photo#AmericaTheBeautiful.
• Information about Shawnee National Forest is available at http://www.fs.usda.gov/shawnee.
• Additional information about the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program is available at http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/atb/.
• Information about the United States Mint is available at http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/.

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Office of Corporate Communications, US Mint, +1 (202) 354-7222, [email protected]