Money makes the world go ’round, and now there will be a little bit of Wilton going ’round the world on money–on the face of a U.S. quarter!
This past Tuesday, Aug. 13, the final six America the Beautiful Quarters were unveiled for 2020, including the coin for Connecticut, which features Weir Farm National Historic Site. The 60-acre national park beautifully preserves the home and art studio of Julian Alden Weir and features landscapes and traditional New England vistas that have inspired–and continue to inspire–artists of all ages.
The quarter’s tails side depicts an artist captured painting outside Weir’s studio, wearing a smock and standing in front of a canvas on an easel. According to the U.S. Mint website, the image “is inspired by various images of the studio and Weir’s paintings created on the property, as well as descriptions of Weir and his fellow artist’s creative inspiration from the rural environment.” The coin is inscribed with the words, “A National Park for Art,” and around the edges of the quarter it names “Weir Farm,” “Connecticut,” “2020” and “E Pluribus Unum.”
The quarter represents Connecticut as part of the mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters program. Now in its 10th year, the program honors national parks and sites in each state and US territory. The locations were chosen by former Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, in consolation with the governor or other chief executive of each host jurisdiction and former Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar, as mandated by the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008.
