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Series of US coins

The 50 State quarters (authorized by ) was a series of circulating commemorative quarters released by the United States Mint. Minted from 1999 through 2008, they featured unique designs for each of the 50 US states on the reverse. The 50 State Quarters Program was started to support a new generation of coin collectors, and it became the most successful numismatic program in US history, with roughly half of the US population collecting the coins, either in a casual manner or as a serious pursuit. The US federal government so far has made additional profits of $3 billion from collectors taking the coins out of circulation. In 2009, the US Mint began issuing quarters under the 2009 District of Columbia and US Territories Program. The Territories Quarter Program was authorized by the passage of a newer legislative act, This program features the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Alabama: The Alabama state quarter is the first coin circulated in the US that features Braille writing. Arizona: The banner reading "Grand Canyon State" in the design is intended to split the quarter into two sections and indicate the Grand Canyon and the Saguaro Cactus are in two different Arizona scenes, as the saguaro cactus is not native to the area near the Grand Canyon. Connecticut: The Charter Oak on the back of the Connecticut quarter fell during a storm on August 21, 1856. It also appears on a 1936 half dollar commemorating the 300th anniversary of the state's settlement by Europeans. Georgia: The outline of the state of Georgia on the quarter appears to have accidentally left out Dade County, which is in the extreme northwestern part of the state. In 1860, Dade residents voted to secede from the United States and from the state of Georgia. The county's secession was never legally recognized, and Dade residents chose to "rejoin" the United States in 1945. Hawaii: The Hawaii quarter features a rendition of the statue of King Kamehameha I, who united the Hawaiian Islands in 1810, with the state outline and motto. This is the first business strike US coin to feature royalty or a monarch of any kind. Illinois: The Illinois quarter is the only quarter to directly reference and portray an urban city, with a picture of the Chicago skyline (the Missouri quarter indirectly references the city of St. Louis with its portrayal of the iconic Gateway Arch). Indiana: The Indiana quarter—having a problem similar to Georgia's quarter—is missing part of its northwestern corner. Lake County is either partially or completely missing (where it borders with Lake Michigan). The error did not garner considerable notice. Iowa: When Iowans were debating the design for its state quarter in 2002, there was a grassroots effort to use a design featuring the Sullivan brothers (to honor the five Waterloo siblings who died when the ship they were aboard—the USS Juneau (CL 52)—sank during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 1942). The effort was ultimately unsuccessful, and a Grant Wood design was used, but not before some copyright issues were resolved. Maryland: The Maryland Statehouse featured on the coin is the country's largest wooden dome built without nails. Some residents complained that the quarter did not feature the state's famous blue crab. Mississippi: The magnolia blossom design, while recognizable at the high levels of magnification at which it was presented for review, appears at production scale as an amorphous mass recognizable only when the accompanying state nickname inscription suggests the image's intended content to the viewer. Missouri: The design contest winner for the Missouri quarter, Paul Jackson, has claimed that the Mint engraver needlessly redesigned Jackson's original submission. The Mint stated that Jackson's design was not coinable, but a private mint later demonstrated that it was. It emerged that Mint engravers may exercise discretion in the final design of US coinage, and the term "design contest" was dropped from solicitations for ideas for later state quarters. Nebraska: One of the final concepts for the Nebraska quarter was based on the Ponca leader Standing Bear, who, in a suit brought against the federal government, successfully argued that Native Americans were citizens entitled to rights under the US Constitution. New Hampshire: The Old Man of the Mountain, featured on the back of the New Hampshire quarter, collapsed in 2003, less than three years after the quarter's release. New Jersey. The first coin in history to ever depict George Washington on both sides. Ohio: Astronauts John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, James Lovell, and Judith Resnik were all natives of Ohio, as were the Wright Brothers. Oregon: Oregon's design features a scene of Crater Lake and Wizard Island. This design was chosen by the Oregon Commemorative Quarter Commission. The Quarter Commission was made up of 18 members, including Governor Ted Kulongoski, State Treasurer Randall Edwards, Columbia Sportswear Chairperson Gert Boyle, numismatist Monte Mensing, and Beaverton High School student Laura Davis, along with state legislators Charles Starr, Joan Dukes, Betsy Johnson, and Betsy Close, among others. The Quarter Commission chose the Crater Lake design from three other finalists: a jumping salmon, the Oregon Trail, and Mount Hood. Rhode Island: With a mast height of 199 ft (61m) the yacht Reliance could not have sailed under the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, which has a clearance below of 188 ft (57m), although the coin does not show the ship sailing under the bridge. This would also not have happened because Reliance was sold for scrap in 1913 and the Pell Bridge opened in 1969. South Dakota: Although South Dakota has the second highest proportion of Native Americans of any state, the South Dakota quarter features three items that are the result of European settlement. These symbols are Mount Rushmore, which honors four U. S. presidents and is carved into the Black Hills which are seen as sacred by the Lakota, a ring necked pheasant (an introduced species of Asian origin), and wheat, a Eurasian crop which has replaced much of the state's native grasslands. Tennessee: 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. The number of strings on the guitar like instrument would be accurate if the instrument was a Mexican vihuela that influenced the country and western music prominent in Nashville culture and business. The instrument, however, has six tuning pegs, so is, in fact, a guitar and not a vihuela. West Virginia: 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. Wisconsin:A number of the Wisconsin quarters featured a small mint error: the ear of corn features an extra leaf. Some of the affected coins feature a "low leaf", others feature a "high leaf". All of these "error coins" were minted at the Denver mint. It is unclear whether the error was deliberate or accidental, but the error generated considerable initial interest. Sets of the flawed coins once sold on eBay for up to $2,800, although the 2013 edition of R. S. Yeoman's A Guide Book of United States Coins lists considerably lower prices for uncirculated specimens. Wyoming: Some Wyoming quarters were released in 2007 with indications of improper quality control. Many persons, upon first seeing the same cowboy outline design used on the state's automobile license plates, have mistakenly believed that the lack of detail is itself a flaw, the result of an incomplete striking. However, evidence of cracks in the die and subsequent hasty repairs have been observed in a few circulation specimens.

+ The following map shows the years each state, federal district, or territory was released as a state quarter. + The following table has the quarters grouped by year. Color Year 1st release 2nd release 3rd release 4th release 5th release 6th release   1999 Delaware Pennsylvania New Jersey Georgia Connecticut rowspan="10"   2000 Massachusetts Maryland South Carolina New Hampshire Virginia   2001 New York North Carolina Rhode Island Vermont Kentucky   2002 Tennessee Ohio Louisiana Indiana Mississippi   2003 Illinois Alabama Maine Missouri Arkansas   2004 Michigan Florida Texas Iowa Wisconsin   2005 California Minnesota Oregon Kansas West Virginia   2006 Nevada Nebraska Colorado North Dakota South Dakota   2007 Montana Washington Idaho Wyoming Utah   2008 Oklahoma New Mexico Arizona Alaska Hawaii   2009 District of Columbia Puerto Rico Guam American Samoa US Virgin Islands Northern Mariana Islands

In 1997, Congress passed the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act, which instructed the creation of the 50 State quarters series to "honor the unique Federal Republic of 50 States that comprise the United States; and to promote the diffusion of knowledge among the youth of the United States about the individual states, their history and geography, and the rich diversity of the national heritage ", and to encourage "young people and their families to collect memorable tokens of all of the States for the face value of the coins." While mintage totals of the various designs vary widely—Virginia quarters are almost 20 times as abundant as the Northern Marianas quarters—none of the regular circulating issues are rare enough to become a valuable investment. There was, however, a measure of collector interest over die errors in the Wisconsin quarter. Some designs from the Denver mint 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 sold on eBay in February 2005 for $300 and initially saw significant increases, such as $1500 for individual coins, but as of February 2020 PCGS lists the value of MS 62 specimens from $92 to $130 each. Another die cast error ran with the first Delaware quarters. Being the first model of state quarter made, the mint gave it a disproportionate weight causing vending machines to not accept it. The quarter die was quickly fixed. Some Delaware quarters appeared without the last E, now saying, "THE FIRST STAT". A major error occurred in 2000 when the reverse die of a Sacagawea dollar was combined with the obverse die of a state quarter on dollar coin planchets to form what is known as a "mule". As of August 2019, only 19 of these specimens, produced on dollar planchets, are known to have escaped from the Mint. A 2005 Minnesota double die quarter, as well as a 2005 Minnesota quarter with extra trees (another die error), have both triggered numismatic interest. An unusual die break on some 2005 Kansas quarters created a humpback bison. Relatively more common are Kansas quarters bearing the motto "IN GOD WE RUST." The United States produces proof coinage in circulating base metal and, since 1992, in separately sold sets with the dimes, quarters, and half dollars in silver. For the silver issues, the 1999 set is the most valuable, being the first year of the series and with a relatively small mintage, although prices have significantly decreased since the 50 State Quarters Program ended. The set in base metal, of this or any other year, is worth only a fraction as much. The silver proof sets of later years, while having some intrinsic and collector worth, are also priced far lower. The public is cautioned to research prices before buying advertised state quarter year or proof sets. In general, the program increased interest in quarter and general coin collecting. Large numbers of ads, quarter products and quarter information were available during the years the program ran. Home Shopping Network, Franklin Mint, and Littleton Coin Company were among the most prominent in ad space.

Since the 50 State Quarters Program was expected to increase public demand for quarters which would be collected and taken out of circulation, the Mint used economic models to estimate the additional seigniorage the program would produce. These estimates established a range of $2.6 billion to $5.1 billion. (At the end of the program, the Mint estimated the actual increase in seigniorage to be $3 billion.) The Mint also estimated the program would earn $110 million in additional numismatic profits. (The final, post program estimate was $136.2 million.) The Mint used these estimates to support the proposed program, and the legislation enacting the 50 States Quarters program cited these estimates. On May 4, 2005, it ran a further story titled "U. S. Mint Gears Up To Issue Commemorative County Pennies". The Late Night with Conan O'Brien television show aired several segments about fictional satirical designs for new state quarters. Sculptor Daniel Carr, whose designs were used for the New York and Rhode Island state quarters and whose concept was adapted for the Maine state quarter, has created a series of parody quarters making light of the state quarter concept.