Obverse of redesigned quarter
The 50 State Quarters program is the release of a series of commemorative coins by the United States Mint. Between 1999 and 2008 (anticipated completion date), it features each of the United States' 50 individual U.S. states on unique designs for the reverse of the quarter
The state quarter program
During the program, a new statehood quarter is released by the United States Mint every "quintile," or 1/5th of a year (73 days); five designs are released each year. Each quarter's reverse celebrates one of the 50 states with a design honoring its unique history, traditions and symbols, usually designed by a resident of that state and chosen by the state government.
The quarters are released in the same order that the states joined the Union. The obverse of each quarter is the same, but is a redesign over the previous design of the quarter.
The statehood quarters program has become one of the most popular commemorative coin programs in United States history; the United States Mint has estimated that over one hundred million individuals have collected state quarters, either formally or informally.
Although the statehood program is, by legislation, intended to include only the 50 states, legislation has twice been introduced in Congress to extend the program an additional year to include the District of Columbia, the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. territories of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa. As of June 2005, this legislation had not yet reached a floor vote.
However, the 1997 act that authorized the statehood quarter program provided that if any territories, commonwealths, or the federal district became states before 2009, that new state would get a quarter.
Controversy over the Wisconsin quarter
The U.S. Mint designed the state quarters series, not as a potentially valuable collectible, but as a way of spurring interest in U.S. coinage - which had seen relatively few changes in design in the past 50 years - and in U.S. history. While mintage totals of the various designs vary widely —- Virginia quarters are almost four times more abundant than Maine issues — none of the regular circulating issues are sufficiently rare enough to become valuable investments. There was, however, a measure of collector interest and controversy over misprintings of the Wisconsin quarter. Some designs feature corn without a smaller leaf, others feature a small leaf pointing upwards, and still others have the leaf bending down. A set of all three quarters from the Philadelphia mint sold on eBay in February 2005 for $300.
No other variations on any other state quarter issues have been noted as of 2005.
See [1] for some further details on the variations in the Wisconsin quarter reverse.
Trivia
Shortly after the Georgia quarter was released, there was an article in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press about an apparent mistake in the quarter. The outline of the state of Georgia on the quarter appears to have accidentally left out Dade County, which is the county in the extreme northwestern part of the state.
There has also been some controversy over the Tennessee quarter. Some sources claim that the details on the instruments depicted on the quarter are inaccurate, such as the number of strings on the guitar and the location of the tubing on the trumpet. One of the final designs for the Tennessee quarter, which was not selected as the final design, was created by a young woman in Dayton, Tennessee who was then in middle school.
The Charter Oak on the back of the Connecticut quarter fell during a storm on August 21, 1856.
The Old Man of the Mountain on the back of the New Hampshire quarter collapsed in 2003.
During the submission process for the design of the West Virginia quarter, there was an apparent movement to put the famous Mothman on the final design.
Several quarters have stars as part of their design. On the designs for New Hampshire, New York, Indiana, and Illinois, the stars represent the order in which the state ratified the Constitution. For example, New Hampshire has nine stars, as it is the ninth state. The three stars in the background of Tennessee's design symbolize the three grand divisions of the state; East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee, and not the state's entry number as Tennessee was the sixteenth state to be admitted to the Union. Texas has a star representing its title as the Lone Star State.
One of the final concepts for the Tennessee quarter was based on the Native American leader Sequoyah, who created the Cherokee alphabet.
The Alabama quarter's use of Braille is the only use of a non-English language on the quarters to date.
Quarter details
| State |
Release Date
(Statehood Date) |
Mintage Numbers |
Design |
Elements Depicted |
| Delaware |
January 1, 1999
(December 7, 1787) |
774,824,000 |
 |
Caesar Rodney on horseback
Captions: "The First State," "Caesar Rodney" |
| Pennsylvania |
March 8, 1999
(December 12, 1787) |
707,332,000 |
 |
"Commonwealth" statue, state outline, keystone
Captions: "Virtue, Liberty, Independence" |
| New Jersey |
May 17, 1999
(December 18, 1787) |
662,228,000 |
 |
"Washington Crossing the Delaware"
Caption: "Crossroads of the Revolution." |
| Georgia |
July 19, 1999
(January 2, 1788) |
939,932,000 |
 |
Peach, Live oak sprigs, state outline
Banner with text: "Wisdom, Justice, Moderation" |
| Connecticut |
October 12, 1999
(January 9, 1788) |
1,346,624,000 |
 |
Charter Oak
Caption: "The Charter Oak" |
| Massachusetts |
January 3, 2000
(February 6, 1788) |
1,163,784,000 |
 |
"The Minuteman" statue, state outline
Caption: "The Bay State" |
| Maryland |
March 13, 2000
(April 28, 1788) |
1,234,732,000 |
 |
Dome of the Maryland state house, White oak clusters
Caption: "The Old Line State" |
| South Carolina |
May 22, 2000
(May 23, 1788) |
1,308,784,000 |
 |
Palmetto tree, Carolina Wren, yellow jessamine, state outline
Caption: "The Palmetto State" |
| New Hampshire |
August 7, 2000
(June 21, 1788) |
1,169,016,000 |
 |
"The Old Man of the Mountain," nine stars
Captions: "Old Man of the Mountain," "Live Free or Die" |
| Virginia |
October 16, 2000
(June 25, 1788) |
1,594,616,000 |
 |
Ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, Discovery
Captions: "Jamestown, 1607-2007," "Quadricentennial" |
| New York |
January 2, 2001
(July 26, 1788) |
1,275,040,000 |
 |
Statue of Liberty, eleven stars, state outline with line tracing Hudson River and Erie Canal
Caption: "Gateway to Freedom" |
| North Carolina |
March 12, 2001
(November 21, 1789) |
1,055,476,000 |
 |
Wright Flyer, Wilbur and Orville Wright
Caption: "First Flight" |
| Rhode Island |
May 21, 2001
(May 29, 1790) |
870,100,000 |
 |
Vintage sailboat in Narragansett Bay, Pell Bridge
Caption: "The Ocean State" |
| Vermont |
August 6, 2001
(March 4, 1791) |
882,804,000 |
 |
Maple trees with sap buckets, Camel's Hump Mountain
Caption: "Freedom and Unity" |
| Kentucky |
October 15, 2001
(June 1, 1792) |
723,564,000 |
 |
Thoroughbred racehorse behind fence, Federal Hill mansion
Caption: "My Old Kentucky Home" |
| Tennessee |
January 2, 2002
(June 1, 1796) |
648,068,000 |
 |
Fiddle, trumpet, guitar, musical score, three stars
Banner with text: "Musical Heritage." |
| Ohio |
March 18, 2002
(March 1, 1803) |
632,032,000 |
 |
Wright Flyer, spacesuit, state outline
Caption: "Birthplace of Aviation Pioneers" |
| Louisiana |
May 30, 2002
(April 30, 1812) |
764,204,000 |
 |
Pelican; trumpet with musical notes, outline of Louisiana Purchase on map of U.S.
Caption: "Louisiana Purchase" |
| Indiana |
August 2, 2002
(December 11, 1816) |
689,800,000 |
 |
Racecar, state outline, 19 stars
Caption: "Crossroads of America" |
| Mississippi |
October 15, 2002
(December 10, 1817) |
579,600,000 |
 |
Two magnolia blossoms
Caption: "The Magnolia State" |
| Illinois |
January 2, 2003
(December 3, 1818) |
463,200,000 |
 |
Young Abraham Lincoln; farm scene; Chicago skyline; state outline; 21 stars, 11 on left edge and 10 on right
Captions: "Land of Lincoln;" "21st state/century." |
| Alabama |
March 17, 2003
(December 14, 1819) |
457,400,000 |
 |
Helen Keller, seated, longleaf pine branch, Magnolia blossoms
Banner with text: "Spirit of Courage"
Caption: "Helen Keller" in standard print and Braille. |
| Maine |
June 2, 2003
(March 15, 1820) |
448,800,000 |
 |
Pemaquid Point Light; schooner at sea |
| Missouri |
August 4, 2003
(August 10, 1821) |
453,200,000 |
 |
Gateway Arch, Lewis and Clark returning down Missouri River
Caption: "Corps of Discovery 1804-2004." |
| Arkansas |
October 20, 2003
(June 15, 1836) |
457,800,000 |
 |
Diamond, rice stalks, mallard duck flying above a lake |
| Michigan |
January 26, 2004
(January 26, 1837) |
459,600,000 |
 |
State outline, outline of Great Lakes system
Caption: "Great Lakes State" |
| Florida |
March 29, 2004
(March 3, 1845) |
481,800,000 |
 |
Spanish galleon, Sabal palm trees, Space Shuttle
Caption: "Gateway to Discovery" |
| Texas |
June 1, 2004
(December 29, 1845) |
541,800,000 |
 |
State outline, star
Caption: "The Lone Star State" |
| Iowa |
August 30, 2004
(December 28, 1846) |
465,200,000 |
 |
Schoolhouse, teacher and students planting a tree,
Captions: "Foundation in Education", "Grant Wood" |
| Wisconsin |
October 25, 2004
(May 29, 1848) |
453,200,000 |
 |
Head of a cow, round of cheese and ear of corn.
Caption: "Forward" |
| California |
January 31, 2005
(September 9, 1850) |
520,400,000 |
 |
John Muir, California Condor and Half Dome
Caption: "Yosemite Valley" |
| Minnesota |
April 4, 2005
(May 11, 1858) |
488,000,000 |
 |
Common loon, Fishing, state map
Caption: "Land of 10,000 Lakes" |
| Oregon |
June 6, 2005
(February 14, 1859) |
720,200,000 |
 |
Crater Lake National Park
Caption: "Crater Lake" |
| Kansas |
August 29, 2005
(January 29, 1861) |
|
 |
American Bison, Sunflowers |
| West Virginia |
2005
(June 20, 1863) |
|
 |
New River Gorge Bridge
Caption: "New River Gorge" |
| Nevada |
2006
(October 31, 1864) |
|
 |
Mustangs, mountains, rising sun
Caption: "The Silver State" |
| Nebraska |
2006
(March 1, 1867) |
|
 |
Chimney Rock
Caption: "Chimney Rock" |
| Colorado |
2006
(August 1, 1876) |
|
 |
Rocky Mountains
Caption: "Colorful Colorado" |
| North Dakota |
2006
(November 2, 1889) |
|
 |
Bison, grassland |
| South Dakota |
2006
(November 2, 1889) |
|
 |
Mount Rushmore |
| Montana |
2007
(November 8, 1889) |
|
|
|
| Washington |
2007
(November 11, 1889) |
|
|
|
| Idaho |
2007
(July 3, 1890) |
|
|
|
| Wyoming |
2007
(July 10, 1890) |
|
|
|
| Utah |
2007
(January 4, 1896) |
|
|
|
| Oklahoma |
2008
(November 16, 1907) |
|
|
|
| New Mexico |
2008
(January 6, 1912) |
|
|
|
| Arizona |
2008
(February 14, 1912) |
|
|
|
| Alaska |
2008
(January 3, 1959) |
|
|
|
| Hawaii |
2008
(August 21, 1959) |
|
|
|
Quarter-dollar coin images from the United States Mint.
Year map
The following map shows the years each state is released as a State Quarter. 
The following table has states grouped by year.
See also
External link
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