State Quarters

Post by **Jay** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 8:34 pm

Are there others that like to collect state quarters? I like to save a couple of each. The one for California came out recently. I like its nature related theme with the Yosemite Valley, John Muir, and what I assume is a California condor. Although it is a single theme, it would have been even nicer if a redwood was superimposed on it.

firelupe · Post by **firelupe** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 4:32 pm

I havn't seen the California one yet. Did you see the new nickles(I presume that they are new)
I love to collect quarters, it's quite fun! But I sometimes get frustrated.

Post by **Jay** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 5:03 pm

The "new" nickels were 2004. I have not seen any 2005 nickels yet, so I do not know what they look like this year. There were 2 types of 2004 nickels that I have seen. I did not like the one of shaking hands. Way too generic for my tastes. But since I have always admired the Lewis and Clark expedition, I like the other type of nickel which shows their main boat. 2004 was the 200 year anniversary of the start of their expedition.

Post by **Wolfyu** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:34 pm

I think they are neat to look at, but I never really got into collecting them. My six-year old sister is going to start, though. It's so cute. ^_^

My mom and I got kind of irked when we saw that the Missouri quarter has the St. Louis Arch on it and we both started griping about how St. Louis always gets all of the attention. *mublegrumble*

Post by **Jay** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 12:02 am

I would have been surprised if the Gateway Arch was not on the Missouri quarter. In my opinion, it is the greatest architectural engineering structure ever created. I also like the museum beneath the base. It shows the history of the U.S. in the 1800s better than anything else. I personally think students should be shown that musem rather than study from history books. They will learn more. (At least, I did.)

The Missouri quarter also has a small boat from the Lewis and Clark expedition. Of course, the superposition of the two is not accurate. The Missouri river does not go to St. Louis.

So, I like the quarter. I think there are other significant things in Missouri. Mark Twain is considered the most well rounded individual of the 1800s. His boyhood home was in Hannibal, Missouri. Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Life on the Mississippi all give portrayals of Missouri in the 1800s. In northwest Missouri, there is Independence, with Truman's summer White House and the starts of the trails associated with westward expansion. There is St. Joseph, which had the headquarters of the Pony Express. Southeast Missouri has interesting geology at Onandaga Cave and Elephant Rocks. Southwest Missouri has the George Washington Carver National Monument. But I do not think any of these would be recognizable on a quarter.

Since we are talking about Missouri, Wolfyu, what would you recommend for tourists to see in Missouri? Also, have you seen the "world's largest goose statue" in Sumner? If so, did you like it?

Post by **Quicksilver** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 5:51 pm

I live fairly close to Missouri and if I were going to tour it, I would suggest going through Kansas City. It is a pretty neat city and they have a great amusement park - Worlds of Fun - that I just love. Unfortunately they took down (or so I heard) one of my favorite rides - the Orient Express.

I also like going to KC during the holidays - the lights on the Plaza are so pretty!

Anyway, I collect the state quarters. So far my favorite quarter is the Connecticut quarter, which features the charter oak. There are a few other neat ones, too. Right now Nebraska is in the voting stage. I don't like ANY of the design finalists. They are all cluttered, if you ask me. But we'll see what happens.

Hard to believe the Delaware quarter came out in 1999 - that seems so long ago!

Oh and I also like the Kentucky quarter - with the horse on it! That is pretty neat.

Post by **Jay** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 11:00 pm

The U.S. Mint has web pages showing the various quarter and nickel designs:
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/index....uarters_program
You can click a quarter to see a closeup and to read a description of the design. (I was right about the California condor.) To get to designs from earlier quarters, click Designs, then click on a state. The description for the Missouri quarter says that there were 5 candidates, all representing 1 of the things I mentioned. Unfortunately, it does not show the other candidates. To see the nickels, click on Westward Journey Nickel Series. There were 2 designs last year. There will be another 2 this year, still related primarily to the Lewis and Clark expedition. Apparently the handshaking nickel is the same design of medals that were given by Lewis and Clark to Native Indian chiefs after treaty signings along their journey.

Post by **texgnome1** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 1:15 am

The kids and I have been collecting the state quarters since the start. We enjoy finding the new ones, and I use it as a learning opportunity (state facts, capitol, etc.) and they enjoy it. We even bought a US map that has holes for each quarter to go in. So it has been a lot of fun.

Post by **jwa1107** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 12:23 pm

I too began at the beginning.
I've yet to get any 2005 designs but I'm all caught up through 2004.
I get one from each mint: Denver and Philadelphia.

I have been pleased overall with the designs for the most part.
But when Texas issued thier winning design I was upset.
They had a contest and a much better design featuring the Alamo and a longhorn and the Lone Star superimposed over the outline of the state should have won rather than just a giant star.

Post by **Jay** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 6:02 pm

That does sound like a better design for Texas. I was also disappointed in the "plain" design that was chosen. Maybe they used just a giant star to emphasize that everything is bigger in Texas.

Post by **okapi_07** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 7:56 pm

I think its funny how both the Ohio and NC quarters have the wright flyer on them. Especially how that is all the NC quarter has on it. So what if some guys from Ohio found a great place to fly their plane in NC, they are still from Ohio. It's like they are trying to take credit for it. That is a big debate I have heard in the past. Of course the NC quarter only says "first flight" the ohio one says "birthplace of aviation pioneers"

Post by **Quicksilver** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 12:04 am

Well did you guys hear about the Wisconsin quarters? If you look at the corn stalk, there are only supposed to be two leaves, but there was a mint "error" and some of them were released with three leaves. I have been checking all the Wisconsin quarters I see but no luck in finding an error yet.

That is interesting about the Wright brothers both being honored on the Ohio and North Carolina quarters. I never really noticed that before.

Post by **Jay** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:49 am

The 3 leave "error" sounds like a scam. There have been mint errors before, and they have been more valuable. However, since there are 5 different quarters a year, that makes a ten week production cycle. It seems doubtful that such an error could be corrected within the cycle. Had it occurred, they probably would just continue using 3 leaves.

Before the Vermont quarter came out, there were huge ads in major newspapers saying that the Vermont quarter was not going to be made available to the general public and this "organization" was the only way to get them. Of course, the Vermont quarters were made available like all of the others.

So, for those that like saving coins, beware.

Post by **jwa1107** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 10:37 am

I think it is a true error in striking.

Coin collectors go ga-ga over an irregular minting of the new 25-cent piece honoring Wisconsin.
February 10, 2005: 8:41 AM EST
By Gordon T. Anderson, CNN/Money staff writer

The Wisconsin quarter

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A mistake in the minting process for some quarters issued last year is putting coin collectors in a frenzy. Speculators are bidding up prices for the recently discovered pieces from their 25-cent face value to nearly $1,500.

The coin in question is the Wisconsin quarter, part of the U.S. Mint's ongoing "50 State Quarters" commemorative series. Minted in 2004, it bears the image of a cow, a wheel of cheese, and a half-husked ear of corn.

Last month, the trade publication Coin World reported, numismatists in Arizona noticed something peculiar about the cheesehead coins: they weren't all uniform. At least two versions had been minted with noticeable -- if ever-so-slight -- variations from the official engraving.

The variation involves the placement of the leaves surrounding the coin's ear of corn. A few quarters that rolled out of the U.S. Mint's Denver production facility appear to have too much husk on them.

"Hobbyists have identified two 'varieties,' generally described as 'Extra Leaf Up' or "Extra Leaf Down.'" Coin World noted. "The unusual coins have raised lines along the left side of the ear of corn on the reverse that some say resemble 'leaves.'"

Those are the kinds of rare distinctions that collectors often love.

In January, a few coin dealers in Tucson reported the discovery of the errant coins, prompting interest within the numismatic community. Since then, publicity surrounding the pieces has drawn attention from a wider circle.

By February 9, Coin World reported, Arizona coin dealers were offering as much as $1,499 to obtain a perfect specimen of the imperfect quarter.

The U.S. Mint, the arm of the Treasury Department responsible for minting coins, does not yet know how the variant coins made it into circulation. An internal investigation is underway to determine whether the mistakes were inadvertent or intentional.

BTW, Wisconsin had a mint run of 453,200,000 coins which is the second lowest (Maine had 448m)

Post by **jwa1107** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 10:39 am

checked eBay

here is a LINK to an auction that has decent pictures

seems they are selling for a decent amount, but as Jay noted - collector/buyer beware!