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About 1,000 people gathered at the Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone National Park today to celebrate the welcoming of a new Yellowstone quarter into circulation.

The Yellowstone National Park quarter is the second in the America the Beautiful quarter program that will commemorate 56 national parks and other important sites over a 12-year period.

The U.S. Mint held a dedication ceremony Thursday at Old Faithful for the new quarter.

The Yellowstone quarter features George Washington on the "heads" side and a bull bison standing in front of Old Faithful geyser on the "tails" side.

Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis says the images on the coin offer a sense of the special nature of the park.

After the ceremony, the public could exchange their currency for $10 rolls of the Yellowstone National Park Quarter. Children 18 years and younger received new Yellowstone National Park quarters to commemorate the event.

Those attending the ceremony include Ed Moy, director of the United States Mint; Suzanne Lewis, superintendent of Yellowstone National Park; Paul Schullery, historian and author; and Gene Bryan, member of the Wyoming Tourism Board.

The America the Beautiful Quarters Program is a 12-year initiative to honor 56 national parks and other national sites. Each year, the public will see five new national sites depicted on the reverse (tails side) of the America the Beautiful Quarters. The United States Mint will issue the quarters in the order that the sites was first established as a national site.