El Yunque National Forest
The only tropical rainforest in the United States; the reverse bears a Puerto Rican parrot and a coquí frog.
El Yunque National Forest is in the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and it is the only tropical rainforest among the U.S. national forests. It is a treasury of life where dense forest and a great variety of creatures live amid an always moist and warm climate.
The reverse of the coin depicts a Puerto Rican parrot together with a coquí frog (common coquí). A colorful parrot and a small frog are held side by side.
The Puerto Rican parrot is a precious bird that lives only on this island, and the coquí frog is an iconic animal of this region, beloved for the “co-quí” sound it calls out at night. Together, the two show how special and precious the creatures that fill El Yunque’s forest are.
El Yunque began to be protected on January 17, 1903, and over long years it has guarded this tropical rainforest and the creatures within it. Because it is a rare kind of nature, it is a place that has been preserved all the more carefully.
When you look at the parrot and the frog on the coin, you feel as if you had entered a tropical forest full of the sound of rain and birdsong. In effect, a small quarter guides you into the green forest of Puerto Rico.