Effigy Mounds National Monument
The 'Marching Bear' earthen mounds seen from the sky, a sacred heritage of ancient Native peoples.
Effigy Mounds National Monument is located in the state of Iowa, and it protects the burial mounds and hills (mounds) built by Native Americans long ago by piling up earth. Some of them were made in the shapes of animals and thus hold a special meaning.
On the reverse of the coin is engraved a view, looking down from the sky, of the earthen mounds called the ‘Marching Bear Group.’ It is a distinctive composition viewing from above the form of several bear-shaped mounds lined up in a row.
These earthen mounds are a heritage that holds the hearts of the ancient people who regarded nature and animals as sacred and honored their ancestors. That they are hard to see from the ground but reveal a clear form when viewed from the sky adds to the mystery this place possesses.
This precious relic was designated a national monument on October 25, 1949, so that it would be protected from damage.
This coin from the ‘America the Beautiful’ series shows, from the sky’s vantage point, the story that people of ancient times before writing left upon the land.