01
The dune ridges
Light and shadow describe long curves across the middle distance.
Great Sand Dunes
National Park
Small figures. A vast field of sand.
A father and son sit beside a creek bed, with dunes and mountains beyond. The figures offer a near scale for a much larger landform.
Read the reverse ⟶DenominationQuarter dollar
Weight5 troy ounces
Fineness99.9% silver
Diameter76.2 mm
Mint markNone · bullion
IssuerUnited States Mint
Reverse design anatomy
Sand, mountains
and a human measure
The Mint describes a father and son playing in sand next to the creek bed. The dune ridges and distant mountains form separate bands behind them. Their family relationship is Mint-attributed, not inferred from appearance.
The following close reading describes visible forms. It does not assign undocumented intentions to the artists.
02
The mountains
Angular peaks contrast with the smoother dune profiles.
03
The figures
Two figures and a small bucket locate the foreground activity.
The place behind the coin
A landform made
by more than wind
NPS explains the dunes through interacting wind, water and sediment. Mountains, basin and streams belong to the wider system; the coin compresses several of these relationships into a small field.
The human figures remain important, but the dominant reading here is landform and scale. It is not a portrait of a named family, nor evidence of how every visitor experiences the place.
- 1932National monument designated
- 2014Fourth design of the year
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 2014 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 designer and sculptor 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.