State Quarters 1999-2008

About This Series

Authorized by the 1997 Act, the State Quarters program released five unique reverses annually — one per state in admission order — from Delaware (1999) through Hawaii (2008). Producing over 34 billion quarters and inspiring an estimated 147 million Americans to collect, it became the most successful numismatic outreach in history. Each state submitted designs reviewed by the Commission of Fine Arts, resulting in diverse imagery: from Delaware's Caesar Rodney to Alaska's grizzly bear. The obverse retained a modified Washington portrait. Struck in copper-nickel clad at Philadelphia (P) and Denver (D), with San Francisco (S) proofs in both clad and .900 fine silver, collectors pursued complete date-and-mintmark sets. Error varieties — the 2004 Wisconsin Extra Leaf quarters, broadstrikes, and off-center strikes — generated intense excitement. The program's success directly spawned the America the Beautiful and American Women quarters programs, establishing rotating-reverse quarters as a permanent fixture of American numismatic culture.