01
Branching crown
Clusters of leaves fill the upper center. The species name is sourced from the Mint, not inferred from silver coloration.
Salt River Bay
National Historical Park
and Ecological Preserve
One young tree meets the water.
Roots descend below a branching crown. The quiet horizontal field makes each arch and opening legible, bringing a shoreline ecosystem into the scale of one plant.
Read the reverse ⟶DenominationQuarter dollar
Weight5 troy ounces
Fineness99.9% silver
Diameter76.2 mm
Mint markNone · bullion
IssuerUnited States Mint
Reverse design anatomy
Crown. Roots.
An intertidal setting.
The Mint identifies a red mangrove in an early stage of development. The central crown spreads above arching prop roots, with water and low shore forms behind. This is an engraved view, not a measured botanical section.
The following close reading describes visible forms. It does not assign undocumented intentions to the artists.
02
Prop roots
Curving roots leave narrow openings between them. The image does not establish how deeply they enter the sediment.
03
Water and shore
Horizontal ripples pass behind the roots. Neither a tide height nor an exact shoreline location is claimed.
The place behind the coin
A nursery habitat,
within a larger historic place
NPS describes mangroves as intertidal forests whose roots trap and stabilize sediment. These sheltered environments provide nursery habitat for many marine fishes and invertebrates. Red, black and white mangroves occur at Salt River Bay; the coin selects one type.
Established in 1992, this St. Croix site preserves both historical and ecological resources. The coin’s young tree is one entry point into that wider setting, not a complete account of its human history. No coastal growth rate, water depth or exact plant age is inferred.
- 1992Site established · Mint / NPS
- IntertidalMangrove habitat · NPS
- 2020Issue #53
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 2020 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: Richard Masters; sculpt: 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.