01
Spread wing
Repeated feather ridges fan across the field. No color is added to the silver relief.
Cumberland Island
National Seashore
An open wing above the marsh.
Feathered arcs spread across the coin. Below them, a branch and low bands of vegetation anchor the bird to a particular kind of coast.
Read the reverse ⟶DenominationQuarter dollar
Weight5 troy ounces
Fineness99.9% silver
Diameter76.2 mm
Mint markNone · bullion
IssuerUnited States Mint
Reverse design anatomy
A perched bird.
A tidal setting.
The Mint describes a snowy egret on a branch beside a salt marsh, poised for flight. That action is attributed to the official description; the image itself fixes one wing-spread pose.
The following close reading describes visible forms. It does not assign undocumented intentions to the artists.
02
Feet and branch
Fine toes meet the diagonal branch below the bird. This is the contact point rather than a flight-path illustration.
03
Marsh bands
Dense vertical strokes border smoother channels behind the branch; individual plant species remain unassigned.
The place behind the coin
Life at the
tidal boundary
NPS places Cumberland’s salt marshes on the western side of the island, sheltered by the island and bordering maritime forest. Tides move water, oxygen and nutrients through this habitat.
Marsh plants and animals respond to changing inundation. This managing-agency context explains the setting; it does not establish what this particular egret is eating, where it will fly or the exact spot depicted.
- 1972National seashore established · Mint
- Tidal marshHabitat context · NPS
- 2018Issue #44
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: Donna Weaver; sculpt: Don Everhart.
- 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.