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): October 20, 2003 (June 15, 1836).

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
P
JF
QUARTER DOLLAR

Reverse

Arkansas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and became a state in 1836. The design features a diamond, representative of Crater of Diamonds State Park, the oldest diamond mine in North America and the world's only diamond-bearing site accessible to the public for digging; a mallard, representative of the state’s great hunting opportunities; and rice stalks, because Arkansas is the site of the first successful commercial rice farming in the US and the nation’s leading producer.

The mallard or wild duck is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa.

Engraver: John Mercanti (JM).

ARKANSAS
1836
JM
2003
E PLURIBUS UNUM

Edge
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Copper Nickel Clad Copper
Weight 5.67 g
Diameter 24.3 mm
Thickness 1.75 mm
Shape round
Alignment Coin
Mints
Denver Mint (D)
Philadelphia Mint (P)
San Francisco Mint (S)

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