The power of a coin brings visitors and locals to the Grand Canyon's edge

A grand quarter

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. - While the edge of the South Rim near the El Tovar Hotel and the Hopi House is often full of sightseers this time of year, it was full to brimming with officials, visitors and locals Sept. 21. It wasn't the vast Grand Canyon that brought the visitors to the edge that particular afternoon, however. They were there for a quarter.

The event was part of the release of the Grand Canyon National Park quarter. The quarter, which features the Nankoweap Delta near Marble Canyon, is the fourth quarter to be released through the United States Mint in the America the Beautiful program.

United States Mint Director Ed Moy was on hand for the Sept. 21 unveiling. He said the National Park Service played an integral part in the creation of the quarter.

"They worked with the Governor Brewer's office to identify what parts of the Grand Canyon we should feature on the coin, and they also have been such gracious hosts to us," Moy said. "This is a new quarter series that Congress authorized that the mint is producing. It's called the America the Beautiful quarters. It allows every state, District of Columbia and territories to pick one iconic national park or national site to be featured on a quarter. So far we have done Hot Springs, Yellowstone and Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon will be the fourth in that series."

Moy said the unveiling marked his first trip to the Grand Canyon National Park.

"My jaw is still dropping over the natural beauty," he said.

According to Moy, Mount Hood is slated to be the next coin in the series to be released. The program, he said, will continue for 12 years, with five quarters slated for release each year.

"We are really, really lucky to have Grand Canyon commemorated on the quarter, the first of the four that are coming out this year," said Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Steve Martin. "We are visited by four and a half million visitors from all over the world. It is one of the most recognizable and, I think, the most inspiring landscapes that there is anywhere in the world. Not only that, but it's the representation of the great state of Arizona. As you all know we are the Grand Canyon state. On the coin itself, it's an image of the upper part of Grand Canyon. Grand Canyon stretched for 277 miles. It was very, very difficult and there were many arguments. We were going to do the Grand Canyon, but where? We tried to pick a place that really had the essence of the Grand Canyon, so the image on the quarter is from Nankoweap, which is an archaeological site in the eastern part of Grand Canyon, right where Marble Canyon is about to make the big bend and turn into Grand Canyon. It's one of the most fantastic views. The quarter commemorates that Native American heritage. This land was occupied for thousands of years prior to our settlement and turning it into a national park. We felt that that was very important."

The Colorado River, he added, also plays an important part in the coin.

Grand Canyon School Principal Marc Cooper brought over 100 students and staff from the local school to take part in the special event.

"We opened it up to all the classes to come up here, because an event like this is a once in a lifetime experience for these kids and I realize that they are all going to get a quarter and that will be a keepsake that they can pass on, because there is not going to be another one like it," Coooper said. "And that is what this is all about, is to celebrate where these kids live. It's part of their history, it's part of their life, it's part of our school, it's part of this community and that's why we are here to celebrate all of those."

Author Scott Thibony said he first saw Nankoweap from the Colorado River.

"A few months later I found myself sitting on a boulder watching a river party drift by, having hiked in by the old trail to this remote cross roads, descending more than a mile in elevation, I had walked from alpine forests to the desert and from the outer world to deep within the gorge," Thibony said.