Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine quarter design
The final design for the 2013 Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine quarter was announced by the U.S. Mint on December 10, 2012. The reverse of the Fort McHenry quarter will feature a scene from Defenders Day – the centerpiece annual event recalling the fort’s defense of Baltimore Harbor in the War of 1812 against Great Britain. Depicting the fort and a 15-star flag as flown during that conflict, Defenders Day fireworks represent “the bombs bursting in air” that inspired Francis Scott Key to write a poem during the War of 1812 that became our national anthem as The Star-Spangled Banner.
Inscriptions on the reverse include fort mchenry, maryland, 2013 and e pluribus unum. This is the 19th design in the popular quarter series which, from 2010-2021, is honoring a national park or historic site in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the 5 U.S. territories.
This eye-catching quarter will be a perfect match for the 2000 Statehood Quarter featuring Maryland, the home state of Fort McHenry – revered birthplace of our national anthem. This fourth 2013 design will be followed by a fifth and final 2013 design honoring Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota.
