01
The summit
Angular ridges gather around the high central peak.
Mount Hood
National Forest
Mountain. Forest. Water.
Mount Hood rises beyond a continuous band of trees. Lost Lake opens the foreground, linking a distant summit to the forest at the water’s edge.
Read the reverse ⟶DenominationQuarter dollar
Weight5 troy ounces
Fineness99.9% silver
Diameter76.2 mm
Mint markNone · bullion
IssuerUnited States Mint
Reverse design anatomy
A horizon held
between forest and water
The Mint identifies Mount Hood and Lost Lake. The pointed summit, dense vertical trees and horizontal ripples divide the reverse into connected zones. This reading keeps the whole habitat in view rather than isolating the mountain as a stone monument.
The following close reading describes visible forms. It does not assign undocumented intentions to the artists.
02
The forest band
Closely spaced trees connect the mountain’s foot with the shore.
03
The lake surface
Horizontal water lines give the lower field a different rhythm.
The place behind the coin
A forest setting,
not only a summit
The national forest includes mountains, lakes and streams. Lost Lake is the specific foreground named in the coin description; it is not a generic alpine lake borrowed from another park.
The Forest Service describes heavy timber on the nearby Lost Lake Butte trail. That trail supplies context for the wooded setting, not evidence of the coin artist’s exact viewpoint.
- 1893National-site antecedent recorded by the Mint
- 2010Fifth program design
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 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 and sculptor Phebe Hemphill
- 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.