The U.S. Mint Is Releasing Quarters With Bats On Them

We cover Bats in their many forms here at ComicBook.com. Batman, Batwoman, Batgirl, the OTHER Batgirl, LEGO Batman, Batman Beyond, Mortal KomBAT, the list goes on. Now we can add another Bat-category to our extensive archives as the United States Mint has revealed their latest Quarter in the “America the Beautiful Quarters” program, featuring none other than a bat. The quarter itself was crafted by sculptor Phebe Hemphill and designer Richard Masters, focusing on the creatures as a visualization for The National Park of American Samoa. You can check out a full image of the coin below.

The new coins will begin to enter circulation on February 3 of this year. Other states and territories receiving an “America the Beautiful” quarter this year include Connecticut, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, and Kansas. None of these other coins feature adorable critters save for Kansas which includes the likeness of a butterfly, sadly it doesn’t hold a candle to the Bat as seen in the American Samoa quarter.

“But Why a Bat?” both you and masked criminals behind bars in Gotham City must be wondering. It’s an easy answer either way, though different depending on if you mean the coin or the vigilante. According to the official US Mint website the design focuses on the Samoan fruit bat in order to “promote awareness to the species’ threatened status due to habitat loss and commercial hunting.” The description further reveals that The National Park of American Samoa is also the only park in the United States that this species of bat calls home.

For further trivia about The National Park of American Samoa, the official site says: “National Park of American Samoa is located some 2,600 miles southwest of Hawaii and is one of the most remote in the U.S. National Park System. The site includes sections of three islands—Tutuila, Ta’ū, and Ofu. Almost all of the land area of these volcanic islands—from the mountaintops to the coast—is tropical rainforest. The park’s area totals 13,500 acres, 4,000 of which are underwater.”

With the arrival of these bat-clad coins in the first quarter of 2020, eager Bat-fans will have plenty of time to collect their own ahead of the release of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, the next big screen outing for Gotham’s vigilante. Currently filming in London, the Robert Pattinson-starring film is scheduled to be released in theaters on June 25, 2021. By the time it debuts you could theoretically pay for your ticket entirely in Bat-quarters. It’s what Batman would want.