2015 (D) Blue Ridge Parkway (North Carolina)

This 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway quarter is minted at the United States Mint at Denver and has never been placed into circulation.

The third coin issued in 2015 for the United State Mint America the Beautiful Program is the 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Quarter.  It is the 28th of 56 coins in the program which launched in 2010.

Appearing on the quarter's reverse is a depiction of the grace and curvature on the road hugging the side of a mountain, with the North Carolina state flower in the foreground.  Inscriptions are BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY, NORTH CAROLINA, 2015 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.

This design, created by Frank Morris and sculpted by Joseph Menna, was selected from among a total of six design proposals.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a 469 mile long road located in Virginia and mostly North Carolina.  Construction on the parkway, known as the Appalachian Scenic Highway then, began in 1935 under President Franklin D Roosevelts public works program.

26 tunnels through the rock of the mountains are located on the completed parkway, one of them on the Virginia portion of the road and the remaining in North Carolina.  The complete Parkway as it is presented today took over 52 years to complete, with the last section being added as recently as 1987.  The entire road follows closely along the Blue Ridge mountain chain and offers spectacular views at almost every mile-marker.