2015-P America the Beautiful Homestead National Park Quarter

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes ….
 

The United States Mint officially released the 2015-P Homestead National Park Quarter representing Nebraska on February 9, 2015, the first America the Beautiful Quarter for the year and the 26th entry in the 11-year, 56-coin series. Its mintage of over 214 million pieces (the 17th highest in the series) makes it a relatively common coin that can still be found in circulation.

Authorized by Public Law 110–456, the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks or other national sites in each state, the District of Columbia, and each territory.” Similarly to the preceding 50 State Quarters Program, five America the Beautiful Quarters (one per state) were issued each year from 2010 through 2020 in the order in which the selected site was established as a National Park. The final coin in the program, the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site Quarter, came out by itself on January 4, 2021.

What Is the Homestead National Historical Park?

The quarter’s reverse prominently displays a rustic and rough-hewn log cabin with a bucket and water pump in front. This is a depiction of an actual building, the Palmer-Epard Cabin, originally built on the grounds of the Homestead National Historical Park in Gage County, Nebraska in 1867.

The park was designated a United States National Monument on March 19, 1936, and became a National Historical Park on January 13, 2021. It commemorates the Homestead Act of 1862 that allowed settlers to claim over a hundred acres of land from the Federal Government in exchange for living on it for five years and making the land productive. The Homestead National Historical Park contains some of the first land exchanged under the Act. Of course, the 211 acres of what is now the park were originally taken from the native Otoe people in an 1854 treaty.

Almost half of the park’s acreage is devoted to the restoration of the ancient tallgrass prairie ecosystem that the Homestead Act was responsible for destroying (a similar conservation effort is honored on the 2020 America the Beautiful Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Quarter representing Kansas).

Facilities within the park include the Homestead Heritage Center and a separate education center. There is also the Freeman School, a one-room schoolhouse that operated continuously from 1872 to 1967 and is named for Daniel Freeman, the first person known to have filed his claim on land under the Homestead Act. Interestingly, and befitting the independent pioneer spirit of America, Mr. Freeman is also notable for suing the local school board to make a teacher stop praying in class and reading the Bible at students. The case, Freeman v. Scheve, et al., went to the Nebraska Supreme Court, which ruled in 1902 that the teacher’s actions violated the Constitution of Nebraska.

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Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens

Being of recent vintage, individual 2015-P Homestead National Historical Park Quarters are not difficult to find raw or certified on sites like eBay. Nor should bank rolls, Mint rolls, $25 mint-sewn bags, or an intact example of one of the various annual coin sets produced by the Mint in 2015, be hard to obtain.

One intriguing aspect of the multi-year, multi-reverse quarter programs of the last two-and-a-half decades is the prevalence of colloquial error coin designations. While some, like the Extra Leaf varieties of the 2004-D Wisconsin State Quarter, are significant enough to appear in the Red Book or receive special designations by third-party graders, there are a multitude of popular, “street-level” errors nicknamed and sought after by the average collector.

The most commonly encountered for the Homestead Park Quarter is the “Leaky Bucket” die crack, which manifests as a lumpy something-or-other attached to the bottom of the bucket on the reverse. These have sold on eBay raw in the last few months for anywhere from a dollar to $20. Another die state error called “Snow on Roof” because of its location can go for similar prices.

Spectacular reverse die doubling can also be found “in the wild”. What a collector is willing to pay for such an uncertified specimen simply depends on the enjoyment one derives from it. A certified Doubled Die Reverse sold on eBay for almost $25 in May.

Otherwise error-free, standard-issue raw coins with good eye appeal can sell for a few dollars.

As for certified pieces, see the noteworthy specimens below for a taste of the market for higher grades. PCGS lists a total of 260 grading events for the 2015-P Homestead National Park America the Beautiful Quarter in July 2024, with a top population of 58 examples in MS67. NGC reports 2,429 grading events, with one coin in the top pop grade of MS69. Filling in the gaps between the two grading companies, NGC also reports 97 grading events for MS67 and 18 for MS68. CAC Grading, a newer full-service grading company, has yet to grade any.

Top Population:  PCGS MS67 (58, 2/2025), NGC MS69 (1, 2/2025), and CAC N/A (0, 2/2025).

• PCGS MS67 #80803690: eBay, June 20, 2024 – $18.85. Flag label.
• NGC MS67 #4271428-012: eBay, June 18, 2024 – $19.99. Early Releases US Mint Uncirculated Set, America’s National Treasures: Nebraska – Homestead label (#389).
• NGC MS67 #4221957-015: eBay, May 27, 2024 – $29.90. America’s National Treasures: Nebraska – Homestead label (#389).
• PCGS MS67 #80803689: eBay, May 19, 2024 – $49.99. Flag label.
• PCGS MS67 #25623830: eBay, August 15, 2021 – $235. Best Offer.
• NGC MS66 #4292174-014: eBay, May 28, 2024 – $24.99. Doubled Die Reverse.

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Design

Obverse:

A modern reworking of John Flanagan’s Washington Quarter design. The left-facing bust of President George Washington’s sits in the center of the coin; Flanagan’s initials JF are visible in the bust’s truncation. Wrapping around the top of the coin is the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. In front of Washington (viewer’s left) is the inscription LIBERTY. Behind Washington, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST is on the viewer’s right, and the mintmark P for Philadelphia is beneath the motto. The coin’s denomination wraps around the bottom, written as QUARTER DOLLAR.

Reverse:

A thick semi-circular frame wraps around the coin. At the top of the frame appears the word HOMESTEAD. At eight o’clock is the inscription NEBRASKA, and at five o’clock is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. At the bottom in the exergue is the date, 2015. Inside the frame are three things that a homesteader needed to survive: a cabin, a well, and food (the cabin being, of course, the Palmer-Epard Cabin at Homestead National Historical Park). Representing food are two stalks of corn, which cross at the base of the design, forming a vegetal wreath. The designer’s initials appear on the corn stalks; RS (Ronald Sanders) on the left stalk and JL (Jim Licaretz) on the right.

Edge:

The edge of the 2015-P America the Beautiful – Homestead National Park Quarter is reeded.

Designers

American sculptor John Flanagan’s work in the medallic and metal arts ranks him as one of the best artists of his generation. For generations of coin collectors, he is best known for his Washington quarter design (View Designer’s Profile).

Artist Ronald D. Sanders joined the Mint’s design staff through the Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program (View Designer’s Profile).

Engraver Jim Licaretz is a former president of the American Medallic Sculpture Association and has seen a number of his designs appear on U.S. coins and medals (View Designer’s Profile).

Coin Specifications

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