Washington Quarter Design: Gone Forever?

And we all know they will do a second round.

To Bret. We are still waiting on some technology to devour all petty cash transactions. So many methods are out there, such as ApplePay and Venmo. Whenever that completely happens, we will be on the road to seeing coins and paper go obsolete.

If so, 2022 is only a little over 4 years away. Assuming they do a second round, how long in advance would the wheels have to start turning? I wonder what they will do for states, such as Arkansas, which only have one National Park - presumably they'd have to select some other important site, I'd hate to think they'd start skipping states that way.

The law specifies national parks or national sites. Or something like that. They had to do that because there was one state that has no national park.

Here is how it is worded

(A)In general.—
Notwithstanding the fourth sentence of subsection (d)(1) and subsection (d)(2), quarter dollars issued beginning in 2010 shall have designs on the reverse selected in accordance with this subsection which are emblematic of the national sites in the States, the District of Columbia and the territories of the United States.

So it isn't National Parks.

And the Secretary of the Treasury has to make his decision about a second round before the end of the ninth year of the series. So until the end of 2018.

(B) Second round at discretion of secretary.—
(i)Determination.—
The Secretary may make a determination before the end of the 9-year period beginning when the first quarter dollar is issued under this subsection to continue the period of issuance until a second national site in each State, the District of Columbia, and each territory referred to in this subsection has been honored with a design on a quarter dollar.

Once the program does end this is the mandated design for the quarter.

(8)Designs after end of program.—Upon the completion of the coin program under this subsection, the design on—

(A) the obverse of the quarter dollar shall revert to the same design containing an image of President Washington in effect for the quarter dollar before the institution of the 50-State quarter dollar program; and

(B) notwithstanding the fourth sentence of subsection (d)(1), the reverse of the quarter dollar shall contain an image of General Washington crossing the Delaware River prior to the Battle of Trenton.


Definition of what a "National Site" is

(9)National site.—
For purposes of this subsection, the term "national site" means any site under the supervision, management, or conservancy of the National Park Service, the United States Forest Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or any similar department or agency of the Federal Government, including any national park, national monument, national battlefield, national military park, national historical park, national historic site, national lakeshore, seashore, recreation area, parkway, scenic river, or trail and any site in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Thank you for the clarification, Conder.

Completely? So you have stopped collecting coins because of the quarter and dollar programs? That's a little extreme, why not just collect something else?

I don't mind a different reverse design each year, kind of like they are doing with the dollar coin these days. It keeps things interesting but reasonable.

Another idea might be the way the British handled the Pound coin, a set of rotating designs.

I think however it is all for naught. Coins themselves will be obsolete well before a new round of quarters would be finished if the series is renewed and they would be issued as collector sets only. Paper money wouldn't be far behind.