HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK — More than 1,000 people gathered Tuesday morning at Hot Springs National Park to celebrate the release of a new quarter from the U.S. Mint featuring the park's iconic fountain and headquarters on its reverse side.
The Hot Springs National Park coin is the first in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, a series that will each year feature five new quarters depicting a different national park or site.
The celebration, which also marked 178 years since Congress established the park as the first federally-protected national site, also gave coin collectors, Hot Springs residents and others the chance to exchange cash for rolls of the new quarters. People began lining up before 7 a.m.
Among those who got new quarters were Ralph and Linda Thompson, who split time between living in Hot Springs and Phoenix. They bought nine rolls of quarters and will give them to friends and family.
Ralph Thompson said he was surprised to learn Hot Springs was the oldest national site, which is why it is first in the series.
"We wanted to be part of the celebration," he said.
U.S. Mint Director Edmund Moy, who spoke during the ceremony on the steps of the headquarters building depicted on the new coin, said afterward that people are often surprised to learn Hot Springs came before Yellowstone, the second quarter in the series.
The quarter will help change perceptions and bring more attention to the area, he said.
"This becomes an ambassador of Hot Springs to the rest of the country and the world," he said. "So when people look at the quarter, they're going to say 'oh, I didn't know that, maybe I should visit there or I never thought about coming, but now I will.'"
Wayne Ashteneau, a coin collector from Detroit who will keep some of his 10 rolls of quarters and sell the rest, might never have visited Hot Springs if not for the coin release. He came for that but said he found he really enjoyed the scenery, the people and the baths.
"We've just had a beautiful time since we've been here," he said shortly after getting his rolls.