Did you know series(3) State Commemorative coins of the USA:The State Quarter Dollar Program 1999 to 2008 (extended to 2009)

Did you know series (3):

State Commemorative coins of the USA:

The State Quarter Dollar Program 1999 to 2008 (extended to 2009):

In 1997, the US  Congress passed an Act called the “50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act”  which had a special purpose in mind – that all the States which formed the United States, would ,in the  order of the dates of their joining the Federal Republic (ratifying the Constitution as it is termed), bring out a quarter which would be designed  to diffuse knowledge among the youth of the USA about their individual States, their history, geography and  diffuse knowledge about the rich diversity of their heritage.

 Not only this, the program aimed at creating a new generation of coin collectors and to encourage young persons to  take the initiative in getting their families to collect these “memorable tokens” of all the States for the face value of these coins. In other words, no premium was charged by the US mint for these quarters.

All the States participated enthusiastically in the program and formed committees of prominent State citizens and all Governors of the States participated enthusiastically in the “State Quarters Program” or the “Statehood Quarters program” as it was popularly called and show-cased by the US Mint. Every State, short-listed designs which were the highlights of their heritage, history, customs/traditions and symbols. It is estimated that more than 3.50 million Americans participated in the selection of the State Quarters designs.

Three short-listed designs submitted by the citizens, were sent by each State to the Secretary of the Treasury. Finally approved designs were executed by 12 of the best Engravers of the US Mint, who did a very good job of fitting in the approved designs on the reverse sides of the State quarters, except in one or two cases, where there was a deviation from the approved designs, because there was difficulty in fitting in all the features contained in these designs on the small coin’s reverse side. 

The obverse side displayed the image of George Washington. However, to accommodate all the features in the designs approved by the States and at the Secretary of the Treasury level, the words “United States of America” “Liberty”  “In God we trust” and Quarter dollar have all figured on the Obverse side.

The program got under way in 1999, with the State of Delaware (statehood date : 07/12/1787) having the honour to have its quarter minted and released first on  1^st January 1999. In fact, its State design proudly stated the fact, that, it was “The First State” as well, on its design approved for final minting of its “State Quarter”.  Each of the State quarters was brought out for about ten weeks and five States were covered every year. The last of these Quarters was minted in 2008 (for Hawaii), after which the program ended.

Both Denver and Philadelphia mints participated enthusiastically in the program and worked untiringly to bring out the quarters in budgeted numbers.

These quarters had their fair share of minting errors, with error coins, mules etc. enhancing the value of these coins for collectors. The most glaring error was “ IN GOD WE RUST” (instead of “TRUST”) in some quarters, but who can blame the two mints, considering the enormity of the entire Program.

It is estimated that, about 150 million Americans have collected these State Quarters and are still said to be going through small change given out in transactions or by the Banks in financial transactions and frequenting Coin dealers and numismatists for getting hold of the missing pieces in their sets. The Program which was, perhaps, the biggest coin minting Program in history of not only the USA but anywhere in the World, particularly, as it aimed to take out these coins from circulation and to let them become objects of numismatic interest, thus, overshot all estimates and succeeded in getting almost half of the USA, particularly the young Americans to become active or passive coin collectors.

The success of this program encouraged the US Mint, to take this program forward to the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories in 2009 (six quarters) ,through another legislation passed by the US Congress.

Presently, the US Mint is engaged in a Program called “America the Beautiful Quarters”. Every year five coins will be brought out depicting designs of National Parks and sites ( taken from  five different states and District of Columbia and U.S. Territories), in the order in which the park or site was declared a National site.

The program is to continue till at least 2021 and may be extended till 2033 at the option of the then Secretary of the Treasury.

I have indented for two of these sets (the first five issued in 2010,containing images from Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Yosemite National Park in California, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon and the second five issued in 2011 containing images from Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennyslavania, Glacier National Park in Montana, Olympic National Park in Washington, Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi and Chickasaw National Recreational Area in Oklahoma. 
In addition, I have been sent by the US Mint, two "Native Indian"dollar coins having a "Scagawea and her infant son" on one side and "The Great Law/Tree of peace " on the other side on one coin, as well as the "Wampanoag Treaty 1621", on the other coin. The two sets have also included Kennedy half dollars as well as dollar coins of eight past American Presidents).

 I wish ,that, I had become an active collector much earlier and had heard about the State Quarters Program while it was still current. 

Nevertheless, I have managed to collect 12 of these quarters, seven from the Denver and five from the Philadelphia mints, which I am displaying below:

Obverse of a quarter dollar issued from Denver mint showing the image of George Washington. Notice the Denver mint mark “D” below the words “In God We Trust”. 

Obverse of a quarter dollar issued from Philadelphia mint showing the image of George Washington. Notice the Philadelphia mint mark “P” below the words “In God We Trust”. 

Reverse of the quarter for Georgia State which was the fourth State to issue its quarter in 1999(statehood date: 02/01/1788).The design depicts a peach, live oak (state tree) sprigs, state outline banner with text “Wisdom, Justice, Moderation (the state motto) . This coin was released on 19/07/99.

Reverse of the quarter for Connecticut State, which was the fifth State to join the Federal Republic. (Statehood date: 09/01/1788). The design depicts “The Charter Oak”. (The Charter Oak was believed to have been planted in the 11^th or 12^th century as part of a ceremony for promoting peace, by the Indian tribes who lived here ( presently in Hardwood, Connecticut).  It is believed that the tree was used as a hiding place for the Constitution Charter in 1687.  The “Charter Oak” fell during a storm in August 1856. Nevertheless, as it is part of the State’s heritage, it was selected for the design). This coin was released on 12/10/1999.

Reverse of the quarter for Virginia, which was the 10^th State to ratify the constitution (statehood date: 25/06/1788). The design shows the ships – Susan Constant, Godspeed, Discovery and the captions: “Jamestown 1607-2007” and “Quadricentennial” (The Susan Constant was the largest of the three ships of the English Virginia Company which came on the voyage in 1606-1607 that led to the founding of the first permanent English Settlement in North America at Jamestown. Replicas of the ships are exhibited in the James River at Jamestown Settlement).

This coin was released on 16/10/2000. 

Reverse of the quarter released for New York, which was the 11^th State to join the United States (statehood date: 26/07/1788). Its design depicts the Statue of Liberty, 11 stars (which stand for the number at which it joined the Federal Republic), the state outline with a line tracing the Hudson River and the Erie Canal with the caption “Gateway to Freedom”. This coin was released on 02/01/2001.

Reverse of the quarter issued for Illinois which was the 21st State to join the Federal Republic (statehood date: 03/12/1818). The design shows a young Abraham Lincoln, a farm with buildings on the left side and the Chicago skyline on the right side. Around Lincoln’s portrait is the State outline. Twenty one stars (Eleven on the left periphery and ten on the right periphery, are symbolic of the State joining the Federal Republic as the 21^st State , with a caption proclaiming “21^st State/Century”. On the left side of the Lincoln portrait is the proud proclamation “Land ofLincoln”. This coin was released on 02/01/2003.

Reverse of the quarter released for Maine which was the 23^rd State to ratify the Constitution (statehood date: 15/03/1820).  The design shows the Permaquid Point Lighthouse and the schooner “Victory Chimes” at sea (The Permaquid Lighthouse was first built in 1827 and rebuilt in 1835. It was added to the National Register of Historic places in April 1985. The Schooner Victory Chimes was built in 1900 and was added to the National Register of Historic places (NRHP) in June 1996 and is a National Historic Landmark (NRL) since September 1997).

 This coin was released on 02/06/2003.

 Reverse of the quarter issued for Michigan which was the 26^th State to join the United States (statehood date:26.01.1837). The design shows the outlines of the State and that of the Five Great Lakes that Michigan is famous for all over the World – Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. The coin proudly bears a caption “Great Lakes State” (Coin release date : 26.01.2004 – the release day/date is the same as the day/date  of the State joining the United States exactly 167 years ago).

Reverse of the quarter issued for Wisconsin which was the 30^th State to join the Federal Republic (statehood date: 29/05/1848). The design shows the head of a cow, round of cheese and ear of corn (which is the state grain) and a banner with the text “Forward”. This coin was released on 25/10/2004.

Reverse of the quarter issued for Oregon which was the 33^rd State to join the United States (statehood date: 14/02/1859), Its design shows the  Crater Lake National Park with the caption “Crater Lake”. This coin was released on  06/06/2005.

 Reverse of the quarter issued for West Virginia State which was the 35^th State to ratify the constitution. (statehood date : 20.06.1863). The design shows the New River Gorge Bridge (which is a steel Arch Bridge near Fayetteville and has a length of about 3000 feet, making it one of the largest such bridges in the World. The design bears a  caption “New River Gorge ”. (Coin Release date: 14.10.2005).

 Reverse of the state quarter issued for Nebraska State which was the 37^th State to join the United States  (Statehood date: 01.03.1867). The design shows the Chimney Rock (which is a familiar rock formation in Morill county and served as a landmark along the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails, being visible for several miles. It is a National Heritage site (NHS) since 1956.The design also shows a covered wagon travelling on the trail with the sun  beating down heavily on the travelers, symbolizing the Westward migration under difficult conditions. The coin has a caption “Chimney Rock”. (Coin release date : 03.04.2006).

Reverse of the quarter issued for North Dakota which was the 39^th State to join the United States (statehood date : 02/11/1889). Its design shows the Heads of American Bison and the Badlands. This coin was released on 28/08/2006.

Posted on 16.01.2012:

Reverse of a quarter dollar, which has been contributed for my blog  by Manish today which is from Philadelphia Mint , released for New Hampshire, which was the 9^th State to join the Union (statehood date : 07.08.2000, coin release date: 07.08.2000). The reverse of the coin shows the “Old Man of the Mountain” and the slogan “Live free or die”. There are also nine stars shown on the coin symbolizing that New Hampshire was the ninth State to join the Union.

The “Old Man of the Mountain” (also called the “Great Stone Face” or “the Profile”) was a set of five granite cliff ledges on Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire, which, when looked at from the North appeared to be the rough profile of an Old Man’s face. Its first recorded mention was in 1805 and had since become a popular sight-seeing point, as well as an emblem of State pride. Down the years, to protect the cliff face from erosion, major repairs have been carried out on the face. Nevertheless, shortly after the coin was released in 2000, in May 2003, the whole edifice came crumbling down, leaving the residents of New Hampshire distraught at losing a symbol of State pride. A State sanctioned memorial for the “Old Man of the Mountain”, has been set up on location.

The slogan “Live free or die” is the official motto of the State and appears on the State emblem. It has its origins in a quote by the famous General John Stark, from New Hampshire who fought the American Revolutionary War. Unable to attend a reunion of the Battle of Bennington due to poor health, he is said to have sent a toast to his comrades by letter “Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils”.

             An Interesting Tidbit

“It took the early US mints three years to mint 1 million coins. In the present day, a US mint like Philadelphia mint, with the latest technology at its disposal can mint a million pieces of coins in about 30 minutes”.

Links:

1) America and the Beautiful Quarters Programme  2010 

2)  America and the Beautiful Quarters Programme 2011 

3) America and the Beautiful Quarters Programme 2012 

4)  America and the Beautiful Quarters 2013

5) The Great Seal of the USA

6) Native American Themed one dollar coins

7) Susan B. Anthony, Civil Rights Leader - one dollar coin

8) Westward Journey Nickel Programme 2004-2006

9) America the Beautiful Quarters Programme - 2014  

10) New $100 Bill With Additional Security Features 

11) The Strange Case of me becoming a US citizen, withou even applying for it, thanks to the US Mint  

12) America The Beautiful Quarters Programme - 2015 

13)  US Bicentennial Coins

14) Forever Stamps: Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the US Civil War 1861-1865

15)  Commemorating the 225th Anniversary of the U.S. Marshals Service with coins

16) American Eagle Gold Coins  

17)  American Gold Buffalo Coins

18) America the Beautiful Quarters - 2016