Cumberland Gap Quarter

The Cumberland Gap Quarter is a United States 25-cent coin issued in 2016 as part of the America the Beautiful Quarters program. It honors Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, the mountain pass on the Kentucky–Virginia–Tennessee border that early settlers used to cross the Appalachians into the western frontier.

Like other America the Beautiful quarters, it is a copper-nickel clad coin — pure copper core bonded between layers of copper-nickel — about 24.3 mm across, roughly 5.67 g, with a reeded edge. The scenic side shows a frontiersman shouldering a long rifle as he gazes through the Gap, with the inscription FIRST DOORWAY TO THE WEST and CUMBERLAND GAP / KENTUCKY. The opposite side carries the familiar George Washington portrait shared by every quarter in the series.

The America the Beautiful Quarters program ran from 2010 to 2021, releasing five new reverse designs each year to honor national parks and other federal sites, one for each state, district, and territory. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park was the Kentucky entry and the 31st coin overall, released in 2016 alongside quarters for Shawnee National Forest, Harpers Ferry, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and Fort Moultrie.

The reverse honors the Gap's role as a gateway for pioneers moving west in the late 1700s, evoking the era of the Wilderness Road. The frontiersman-and-rifle scene and the motto FIRST DOORWAY TO THE WEST tie the design to that migration. The obverse reuses John Flanagan's 1932 George Washington portrait, restored and slightly modified for the series. Coins were struck for circulation at Philadelphia and Denver, with San Francisco producing collector issues.

Look first at the scenic side, which is the most distinctive. It depicts a frontiersman with a long (flintlock-style) rifle over his shoulder looking out through the mountain pass, inscribed CUMBERLAND GAP, KENTUCKY, the year 2016, E PLURIBUS UNUM, and the motto FIRST DOORWAY TO THE WEST. That combination of a rifleman and the "First Doorway to the West" wording is unique to this issue.

The other side is the standard America the Beautiful obverse: a left-facing bust of George Washington with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, and QUARTER DOLLAR. The mint mark (P, D, or S) sits to the right of Washington's ribbon tie, just below IN GOD WE TRUST.

Physically it is a clad quarter: about 24.3 mm in diameter, near 5.67 g, with a copper-colored edge stripe visible when viewed edge-on and fine reeding around the rim. That copper-showing edge confirms it is ordinary copper-nickel clad rather than a silver strike.

Cumberland Gap quarters pulled from pocket change or a bank roll are worth their 25-cent face value in circulated condition; they were made in large numbers for everyday use and are not scarce. Their appeal is mainly as an affordable, collectible design rather than a rarity.

Uncirculated examples from mint bags or rolls, and San Francisco collector strikes, carry modest premiums — typically a few dollars — with high-grade certified coins and proofs bringing more. A small number of five-ounce silver "America the Beautiful" bullion versions of this design were also issued and are worth far more because of their silver content and size. Treat any figures as general context; actual prices vary with grade, finish, and demand.