Editor's note: When was the last time you pulled change out of your pocket and spotted a national park-edition quarter? They're not as common as you might think. In fact, compared to the 50 State Quarters, they're downright rare. That point comes across in the following article, written by the folks at Coins of America who sell national park collectibles.

Those familiar with current American coinage know that the United States Mint in 2010 started issuing a brand new series of National Park Quarters and other site quarters through its America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. This lineup came on the heels of the extremely popular 50 State Quarters Program and its follow-up the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarter series.

What many do not know is where to get new National Parks Quarters. Finding the quarters in circulation has proven to be a challenge, in part due to the fact that the U.S. economy has needed fewer new coins since the recession.

The new America the Beautiful Quarters series is operated in a fashion very similar to the previous quarters programs where several newly designed quarters are issued annually. However, where the previous programs featured reverse designs emblematic of the honored state or territory in general, the new coins contain reverse designs emblematic of a specific site within each of those jurisdictions. The chosen sites were required to be under federal control and feature locations such as national parks, national forests, and national monuments.

Authorized by the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, which became Public Law 110-456, this new series has already seen several rounds of releases by the U.S. Mint.

With the first coins already in circulation, one might assume that it would be easy to find them in your pocket change. That assumption would, for the most part, be wrong. For example, the total mintage for each of the four National Park Quarters issued averaged less than 70 million strikes. While that may seem like a lot, it is low in comparison to the previous programs. The average 50 State Quarters mintage stood at 695.952 million, with the lowest being 416.6 million from Oklahoma. And the most from New York… reaching 2 billion.

The Mint at one time claimed that 147 million people collected the 50 State Quarters. Given the mintages seen in the debut strikes of the new series, not even half that number would be able to assemble a complete set.

To learn more about the National Parks Quarters program, and how to obtain some of these collectibles, visit the website of Coins of America.

From collectible coins and colorful collections to fine jewelry and coin bears, Coins of America has the perfect gift for friends, family, loved ones, associates and even yourself. You’ll love the way Coins of America presents the story behind the coins to further enhance the collecting experience.