Coin in U.S. quarters series will depict Kilauea eruption

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will be featured on a commemorative 2012 quarter to be released Aug. 27 through the U.S. Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters Program.

The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park coin depicts an eruption on the east rift zone of Kilauea. It was designed and sculpted by U.S. Mint sculptor-engraver Charles L. Vickers.

The Kilauea quarter will be the 14th in a series of 56 America the Beautiful quarters. The series began in 2010.

"We are extremely honored that Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park was selected by the United States Mint to represent our state on the America the Beautiful quarter, and that they solicited our design input," Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando said in a news release Thursday.

The series will feature one site from each state plus sites in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and Northern Mariana Islands.

The five quarters to be released in 2012 are, in order, El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico, Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, Acadia National Park in Maine, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska.

Quarters released in 2010, the first year of the series, were Hot Springs National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, Grand Canyon National Park and Mount Hood National Forest Site.

Quarters released in 2011 were Gettysburg National Military Park, Glacier National Park, Olympic National Park, Vicksburg National Military Park and Chickasaw National Recreation Area.

For more information, go to americabeautifulquarters.com.