01
The bison
The lowered head and thick shoulder fill the near field.
Yellowstone
National Park
A living presence. A rising plume.
A bison holds the foreground while Old Faithful rises behind it. Yellowstone enters the sequence through animal life and hydrothermal motion.
Read the reverse ⟶DenominationQuarter dollar
Weight5 troy ounces
Fineness99.9% silver
Diameter76.2 mm
Mint markNone · bullion
IssuerUnited States Mint
Reverse design anatomy
Weight below.
Movement above.
The Mint identifies Old Faithful and a mature bull bison. The broad animal silhouette, billowing plume and distant ground establish three distinct depths.
The following close reading describes visible forms. It does not assign undocumented intentions to the artists.
02
The plume
Rounded forms expand above the narrow rising jet.
03
The farther field
A smaller bison appears beyond the foreground animal. This is a scale relationship, not a population count.
The place behind the coin
Habitat has
a human history, too
Yellowstone became a national park in 1872. Its hydrothermal features and wildlife are parts of a larger living landscape, not isolated attractions.
NPS records more than 11,000 years of human presence in the region and continuing tribal ties. An ecological reading of this coin does not imply an uninhabited past.
- 1872National park established
- 2010Second design in the sequence
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 Don Everhart
- 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.