01
The facade
The upper entrance and pediment establish a strong vertical axis.
Hot Springs
National Park
Water, architecture, a public promise.
A headquarters facade and a thermal fountain open the America the Beautiful sequence in Arkansas.
Read the reverse ⟶DenominationQuarter dollar
Weight5 troy ounces
Fineness99.9% silver
Diameter76.2 mm
Mint markNone · bullion
IssuerUnited States Mint
Reverse design anatomy
A civic landmark,
read face to face
The headquarters building, completed in 1936, rises behind a thermal fountain. The NPS emblem sits to the right of the doorway.
The following close reading describes visible forms. It does not assign undocumented intentions to the artists.
02
The fountain
The broad basin occupies the foreground of the architectural scene.
03
The emblem
The small NPS device identifies the institution beside the doorway.
The place behind the coin
The water came first.
Federal protection of the thermal springs began in 1832. The reservation became a national park in 1921; the coin depicts the later headquarters, not an 1832 building.
Bathhouse Row records how bathing, health and tourism shaped this place. A modern photograph helps locate the facade within that built landscape; it is not evidence of the designer’s source view.
- 1832Federal reservation
- 1921National park
- 1936Headquarters completed
Park headquarters · NPS · public domain · Context, not the artist’s source view.
Same design. A larger canvas.
From pocket change
to a statement in silver
The 2010 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 Don Everhart · reverse sculptor Joseph Menna
- 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.