50 State Quarters (1999-2009)

The 50 State Quarters program is the release of a series of circulating commemorative coins by the United States Mint. Between 1999 and 2008, it featured each of the 50 U.S. states on unique designs for the reverse of the quarter.

In 2009, the U.S. Mint started issuing quarters under the 2009 District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Program. This program features the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands. While the Territories Quarter Program is authorized under a different legislative Act, it is typically seen as an extension of the 50 State Quarters program.

I started collecting these commemorative coins in 2007 and it took me almost 3 years to collect them all. In the meantime, I had a chance to visit the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia somewhere in April 2009 where I found this beautiful collector's map! Unfortunately, it is not allowed to take any photos inside the U.S. Mint so I cannot share my excitement with you. However, if you have a chance to visit Philly make sure you don't miss it.

The program was conceived as a means of creating a new generation of coin collectors, and in that it succeeded. The 50 State Quarters program became the most successful numismatic program in history, with roughly half of the U.S. population collecting the coins, either in casual manner or as a serious pursuit. The U.S. federal government so far has made additional profits of $3.0 billion from collectors taking the coins out of circulation.

Many thanks to Nuch (Speedy) from Thailand for sending me the last coin that was missing in my collection all the way from USA to Europe.