01
The cabin
Horizontal logs and the chimney distinguish the built structure.
Great Smoky Mountains
National Park
A cabin is a beginning, not the whole story.
The historic log cabin gives this reverse a human scale. Forest, fence and a hawk surround a built place rather than an untouched wilderness.
Read the reverse ⟶DenominationQuarter dollar
Weight5 troy ounces
Fineness99.9% silver
Diameter76.2 mm
Mint markNone · bullion
IssuerUnited States Mint
Reverse design anatomy
Built forms
in a living landscape
The Mint identifies a historic log cabin, forest and a circling hawk. The exact cabin name and its occupants are not established by the cited design description.
The following close reading describes visible forms. It does not assign undocumented intentions to the artists.
02
The fence
Crossing rails divide the near ground from the cabin.
03
The hawk
The small bird crosses the sky above the forest. No symbolic meaning is assigned.
The place behind the coin
More than
a cabin in the woods
The cabin offers an entrance into southern Appalachian built heritage, but not a substitute for the histories of people who lived here before and after it.
Cherokee homeland and continuity
NPS places later Euro-American settlement within Cherokee homelands and records forced removal in the 1830s as well as continuing Cherokee presence. The cabin is not used to stand for Cherokee culture.
NPS · people ↗Preservation also changed lives
NPS describes logging, farming and the departure of landowners during park creation. Preserved buildings are selective survivals of those communities, not proof that change ended when the park opened.
NPS · settlement and park creation ↗- 1926Park authorization
- 1934National park established
- 2014Coin issued
No cabin-family identity, ceremonial meaning or community endorsement is claimed. Authorization in 1926 is distinct from national-park establishment in 1934.
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 Chris Costello · reverse sculptor 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.