01
The cave wall
Layered ridges bend around a dark recess. The crop retains the engraving rather than adding a diagram of hidden chambers.
Apostle Islands
National Lakeshore
Follow the water into the rock.
The cliff fills one side of the coin. Across the water, a small paddler and distant tower give the layered stone a different scale.
Read the reverse ⟶DenominationQuarter dollar
Weight5 troy ounces
Fineness99.9% silver
Diameter76.2 mm
Mint markNone · bullion
IssuerUnited States Mint
Reverse design anatomy
Cave. Lighthouse.
Kayaker.
The Mint identifies Devils Island sea caves, a lighthouse in the background and a foreground kayaker. These three distances organize the design; the coin is not a navigational chart.
The following close reading describes visible forms. It does not assign undocumented intentions to the artists.
02
Distant lighthouse
A narrow tower rises above the right-hand shore. Its place is identified by the Mint’s description.
03
Kayaker
The paddle cuts diagonally over the water; the person remains unnamed. No route or safe conditions are inferred.
The place behind the coin
Water works
at the base of the cliff
NPS describes waves, freezing and thawing acting on Devils Island Formation sandstone. Undercutting at water level can produce recesses that join behind the cliff face, leaving pillars and arches.
The official reverse brings a visitor into that geological setting. This is a reading of composition, not evidence of an exact excursion, a measured cave system or a recommended paddling route.
- 1970National lakeshore established · Mint
- SandstoneSea-cave material · NPS
- 2018Issue #42
Historical context, not a reconstruction. No unverified event photograph is used.
Same design. A larger canvas.
From pocket change
to a statement in silver
The 2018 design also belongs to the circulating quarter. At 76.2 mm, the five-ounce silver coin is 3.14 times wider by diameter—not 3.14 times heavier.
The quarter is a measured outline: an exact authorized quarter photograph is not bound for this page. It is not a miniature bullion image.
Collect with context
Know the design.
Know the object.
Reverse design: Richard Masters; sculpt: Renata Gordon.
- Standard bullion
- No mint mark · Authorized Purchasers · incuse edge weight and fineness.
- Collector five-ounce
- P mint mark · special finish · a separate object. Collector totals are not bullion mintages.