Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
A vanishing tallgrass prairie, engraved with a butterfly and big bluestem grass.
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is located in the state of Kansas. “Tallgrass prairie” means a grassland where tall grasses grow, and this prairie, which once broadly covered the central United States, has mostly been turned into farmland, so that today only a very small part remains. This place is where that precious old form of the prairie is protected.
On the reverse of the coin is a regal fritillary butterfly flying among big bluestem grass. It captures the image of the butterfly gracefully spreading its wings among the tall grasses.
Big bluestem is the grass that represents this prairie, sometimes growing as tall as a person. The regal fritillary butterfly is an insect that can only be seen in a healthy prairie, so the scene of these two together shows how full of life a well-preserved prairie ecosystem is.
This preserve was designated on November 12, 1996, and protects the nearly vanished tallgrass prairie and the plants and animals that live within it. In this way, the “America the Beautiful” series also honors the nature of the prairie, precious even if not flashy.
Looking at the butterfly flying over the grassland on the coin, we come to feel anew the fact that even a prairie, which we often pass by, holds a beauty worth protecting.