Description

The 50 State Quarters Program was the release of a series of circulating commemorative coins by the United States Mint. From 1999 through 2008, the 50 state quarters were released by the United States Mint every ten weeks, or five each year.

Each quarter's reverse commemorated one of the 50 states with a design emblematic of its unique history, traditions and symbols. Certain design elements, such as state flags, images of living persons, and head-and-shoulder images of deceased persons were prohibited.

The 50 State Quarters Program was started to support a new generation of coin collectors, and it became the most successful numismatic program in history, with roughly half of the U.S. population collecting the coins, either in a casual manner or as a serious pursuit.

Quarters are issued in the order that the states ratified the Constitution. Release date (statehood date): November 6, 2006 (November 2, 1889).

Obverse

A head of George Washington, the first President of the United States, facing left.

Designer: John Flanagan (JF), 1932 version from a 1786 bust by Houdon / William Cousins.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
IN
GOD WE
TRUST
LIBERTY
S
JF
QUARTER DOLLAR

Reverse

Features an image of the State bird, a Chinese ring-necked pheasant, in flight above a depiction of the Mount Rushmore National Monument, featuring the faces of four American Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The design is bordered by heads of wheat.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore, a granite batholith formation in the Black Hills in Keystone, South Dakota. Sculpted by Danish-American Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum, Mount Rushmore features 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of four United States presidents: George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865).

Engraver: John Mercanti (JM).

SOUTH DAKOTA
1889
JM
2006
E PLURIBUS UNUM

Edge

25 Cents

Washington Silver Proof Quarter
KM# 386a
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Silver
Fineness 0.900
Weight 6.25 g
Diameter 24.3 mm
Thickness 1.75 mm
Shape round
Alignment Coin
Mint
San Francisco Mint (S)

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