Shawnee Quarter

The Shawnee Quarter is a 2016 United States twenty-five-cent coin issued as part of the America the Beautiful Quarters program. It honors Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois, and its designed side depicts the rugged sandstone rock formations at the forest's Garden of the Gods Recreation Area, with a natural landscape stretching into the distance.

Like all America the Beautiful quarters, it is struck in copper-nickel clad — outer layers of 75% copper and 25% nickel bonded to a pure copper core — measuring about 24.3 mm across and weighing roughly 5.67 g, with a reeded edge. The design side carries the inscriptions SHAWNEE, ILLINOIS, and the date 2016, while the opposite side bears the standard restored portrait of George Washington used throughout the series.

The America the Beautiful Quarters program ran from 2010 to 2021 and issued 56 different reverse designs, five per year, each celebrating a national park or other federal site — one from each state, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. Shawnee National Forest was the site chosen to represent Illinois.

The Shawnee National Forest quarter was the first release of 2016 and the thirty-second design in the overall series, entering circulation early that year. Coins were struck for circulation at the Philadelphia (P) and Denver (D) mints, with proof and uncirculated collector versions produced at San Francisco (S). As with other issues in the program, the U.S. Mint also offered a large five-ounce .999 fine silver bullion version bearing the same design, distinct from the copper-nickel clad circulating coin shown here.

The defining feature is the designed reverse: a scene of layered sandstone rock formations from the Garden of the Gods Recreation Area within Shawnee National Forest, backed by a wooded landscape. The inscriptions read SHAWNEE across the top, ILLINOIS and the date 2016 along the lower portion, together with E PLURIBUS UNUM. These place-name inscriptions confirm the specific issue.

The obverse is the shared America the Beautiful portrait of George Washington facing left, adapted from John Flanagan's original 1932 design, with LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and QUARTER DOLLAR. A mint mark — P, D, or S — appears on this side to the right of Washington's neck.

The coin is copper-nickel clad, about 24.3 mm in diameter and 5.67 g, with a reeded edge; a copper-colored stripe is visible along the edge where the core shows through. These specifications distinguish it from the heavier, larger five-ounce silver version and from ordinary Washington quarters of other designs.

As a modern circulating coin, the Shawnee Quarter is worth its face value of 25 cents when found in pocket change, and worn examples carry no premium. Crisp, uncirculated rolls and rolls saved from the year of issue may bring a small amount over face to collectors assembling complete America the Beautiful sets.

Higher premiums attach mainly to the special collector formats: San Francisco proof and uncirculated coins sold in Mint sets, and especially the separate five-ounce .999 silver bullion and "P" uncirculated silver versions, which trade largely on their silver content and collector demand. Values vary with condition and format, so treat any figure as general context rather than a fixed price; top-grade certified examples are the exception that can command more.