01
Patterned wing
Raised spots and veins divide the broad wing. The window preserves the silver relief, not the butterfly’s natural colors.
Tallgrass Prairie
National Preserve
A wing above the sweep of grass.
A butterfly occupies the open upper field. Below, long leaves cross the coin in shallow arcs, while fine seed heads set a more delicate rhythm.
Read the reverse ⟶DenominationQuarter dollar
Weight5 troy ounces
Fineness99.9% silver
Diameter76.2 mm
Mint markNone · bullion
IssuerUnited States Mint
Reverse design anatomy
Wing pattern.
Leaf arc. Seed head.
The Mint names regal fritillary butterflies and Big Bluestem and Indian grasses. One butterfly is visible on this reverse. Its patterned wing dominates the upper field; the grasses cross below it. No feeding or pollination event is shown.
The following close reading describes visible forms. It does not assign undocumented intentions to the artists.
02
A sweeping leaf
One long curve passes beneath the butterfly. It supplies a compositional direction, not a recorded wind speed.
03
Fine seed heads
Small repeated forms branch from slender stems. Individual stems are not independently assigned to the named grasses.
The place behind the coin
A grassland in motion,
across the seasons
NPS cautions that tall grasses do not stand at full height throughout the year: spring growth develops through the season, with taller growth favored by deeper soils and water availability. The engraved grasses do not establish the month depicted.
The preserve was established in 1996. NPS describes fire and grazing as linked processes that sustain prairie vegetation and diversity. That managed, changing landscape is different from an unchanging backdrop; no burning or grazing event is claimed to appear on this coin.
- 1996Preserve established · NPS
- Fire + grazingEcological processes · NPS
- 2020Issue #55
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: Emily Damstra; sculpt: 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.