Theodore Roosevelt Quarter

The Theodore Roosevelt Quarter is a 2016 United States 25-cent piece from the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, honoring Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the North Dakota badlands. Like all quarters in the series, it pairs the standard George Washington portrait on the obverse with a park-themed reverse. The reverse — the side featured in these photos — depicts a young Theodore Roosevelt on horseback, rifle in hand, surveying the rugged terrain, encircled by the inscriptions THEODORE ROOSEVELT, NORTH DAKOTA, 2016, and E PLURIBUS UNUM.

The circulating coin is copper-nickel clad: outer layers of 75% copper and 25% nickel bonded to a pure copper core, which shows as a coppery stripe along the reeded edge. It measures about 24.26 mm across and weighs roughly 5.67 g, the same specifications as every modern Washington quarter. It was struck for general circulation and is still readily found in pocket change, making it one of the more accessible entries in the America the Beautiful set.

The America the Beautiful Quarters Program ran from 2010 to 2021, issuing 56 different reverse designs honoring national parks and other federal sites, at a pace of five per year. The Theodore Roosevelt National Park quarter was the fourth release of 2016 and the 34th coin in the overall series, entering circulation in the autumn of that year. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is notable as the only U.S. national park named directly for a person, commemorating the future president's formative years ranching and hunting in the Dakota badlands.

The reverse design shows Roosevelt on horseback amid the North Dakota landscape and was created by U.S. Mint program artists, with the coin sculpted at the Mint. The obverse retains the restored 1932 left-facing portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan. As with the rest of the series, Philadelphia and Denver struck circulating clad quarters, San Francisco produced collector proof and uncirculated versions, and a separate five-ounce .999 fine silver bullion version of the same design was issued in a three-inch format for collectors and investors.

The quickest identifier is the reverse inscription. A genuine Theodore Roosevelt Quarter reads THEODORE ROOSEVELT along the upper rim and NORTH DAKOTA along the lower rim, framing a scene of a mounted rider — Roosevelt on horseback carrying a rifle — with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and QUARTER DOLLAR also present and the date 2016. E PLURIBUS UNUM appears in the field. No other U.S. quarter combines a horseback figure with the North Dakota and Theodore Roosevelt legends.

The obverse is the standard America the Beautiful format: a left-facing bust of George Washington with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, and QUARTER DOLLAR. Note that in this series the year and the park name sit on the reverse, not beside Washington, so a 2016 date on the Roosevelt side is normal.

Physically the coin is copper-nickel clad, about 24.26 mm in diameter, roughly 5.67 g, with a reeded edge that shows a copper stripe between silvery faces. Mint marks appear on the obverse to the right of Washington's ribbon: P for Philadelphia, D for Denver, and S for San Francisco collector strikes. The three-inch, five-ounce silver bullion version carries the same design but is dramatically larger and heavier and cannot be confused with the pocket-change quarter.

Circulated copper-nickel Theodore Roosevelt Quarters from Philadelphia or Denver are common and generally trade at their face value of twenty-five cents. They were struck for circulation in large numbers and still appear in everyday change, so ordinary worn examples carry no premium beyond face.

Modest premiums attach to a narrower group: uncirculated rolls and high-grade examples, San Francisco proof and uncirculated collector strikes, and recognized error or variety coins. The separate five-ounce .999 silver bullion version is worth far more, driven mainly by its substantial silver content rather than rarity. Treat any dollar figures as general context — grade, eye appeal, mint, and whether a coin is the clad quarter or the silver bullion piece determine which examples exceed face value.