The U.S. Mint cannot tell a lie -- George Washington will be sharing his quarter with a fruit bat in 2020.
The first new America the Beautiful National Parks quarter dollar will be released Feb. 3, according to CoinWeek. The obverse of the quarter will retain the same side profile of Washington that has graced U.S. quarters since 1932. The reverse design shows a Samoan fruit bat mother hanging in a tree with her pup, according to the U.S. Mint.
The design depicts a Samoan fruit bat mother hanging in a tree with her pup. It evokes the remarkable care and energy that this species puts into their offspring. The design promotes awareness to the species’ threatened status. https://t.co/FZr4GxX4vV #AtBFinal6 @NPamericansamoa pic.twitter.com/pAru63HR02
— United States Mint (@usmint) August 13, 2019
The National Park of American Samoa is the only U.S. park where the Samoan fruit bat is native, according to HuffPost.
2020 is off to a rough start but things will turn around in February when the bat quarters come out https://t.co/Hu8As4Q4je pic.twitter.com/rPMHfVL5Ik
— Alana Massey (@AlanaMassey) January 7, 2020
In 2010, the U.S. Mint began issuing quarters with five new reverse designs each year. The fruit bat is the 51st issue among the 56 coins in the program, the U.S. Mint said on its website.
The other four issues this year are Connecticut’s Weir Farm National Historic site, set for an April 6, release; U.S. Virgin Islands’ Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Reserve on June 1; Vermont’s Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, Aug. 31; and Kansas’ Tallgrass Prairie National Reserve on Nov. 16.
"Holy parking tickets Batman, how did The Penguin get a meter installed way out here in the Southern Andes?"
— Casey Grimm (@casualle_gaimer) January 8, 2020
"It doesn't matter Robin, even if he's a scofflaw, we still have to pay to park the Batmobile legally. Quick, hand me the Bat Quarter!"
The final quarter in the series, to be released Feb. 1, 2021, depicts Alabama’s Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.
The coins were made possible by Public Law 110–456 -- America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008.
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