What comes around goes around,

 looking at the coins responsible for the coin boom

by Dave Bowling

Vault Manager

Chattanooga Coin

A quick look at the current coin market rush of activity will reveal a number of factors possibly responsible.  In contrast to the attacks against coin collectors during the mid-1960, the mint finally saw collectors as a market capable of providing millions of dollars to the treasury coffers.  The first was the resumption of annual proof sets in 1968, the Bicentennial 1976 coin programs, and the resumption of commemorative coins with the 1982 George Washington half commemorative.  This was followed by a very successful bullion coin program in 1986 and finally by the very successful and planned State Quarter Program begun in 1999.  Although the quarter program was most impressive, all of  the inspired initiatives worked together to bring new life into the coin market.

In 1997, Congress passed the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act, which ordered the creation of the state quarters series to "honor the unique Federal Republic of 50 States that comprise the United States; and to promote the diffusion of knowledge among the youth of the United States about the individual states, their history and geography, and the rich diversity of the national heritage...", and to encourage "young people and their families to collect memorable tokens of all the States for the face value of the coins." 

Launched in 1999, the United States Mint's 50 State Quarters Program was a 10-year initiative that honored each of the nation's states in the order that they ratified the Constitution or were admitted into the Union.  Each quarter was produced for about 10 weeks and will never be produced again.  State designs are displayed on the reverse (tails) of the quarters, while the obverse design displays the familiar image of George Washington.  But, to accommodate state designs on the reverse, the words "United States of America," "Quarter Dollar," "Liberty," and "In God We Trust" all appear on the obverse 

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 a profit of $4.6 billion from collectors taking the coins out of circulation

By the end of 2008, all of the original 50 state quarters had been minted and released. The official total, according to the U.S. Mint, was 34,797,600,000 coins. The average per state design was 695,952,000 coins, but ranged all the way from Virginia's 1,594,616,000 to Oklahoma's 416,600,000, a difference by a factor of about 3.83. The average was skewed higher by a few states with very large mintage numbers, while the median state had a total of 580,500,000 coins. Only two states had a very close number of minted coins, Missouri and Wisconsin each with about 453,200,000 coins.

While mintage totals of the various designs vary widely—Virginia quarters are almost four times more abundant than Maine quarters—none of the regular circulating issues is rare enough to become a valuable investment.

There was, however, a measure of collector interest and controversy over die errors in the Wisconsin quarter. Some designs feature corn without a smaller leaf, others feature a small leaf pointing upwards, and still others have the leaf bending down.  A set of all three quarters from the Philadelphia mint sold on eBay in February 2005 for $300, and have since seen significant increases.

A 2005 Minnesota double die quarter, as well as a 2005 Minnesota quarter with extra trees (another die error), have both triggered numismatic interest. An unusual die break on some 2005 Kansas quarters created a humpback bison. Relatively more common are Kansas quarters sporting the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST".The 1999 silver proof coinage set is valuable, being the first year of the series and with a relatively small mintage. The set in base metal is worth only a fraction as much.

As the State Quarter program was reaching the end of the 50 states in 2008,  the very successful program quickly followed with a special 2009 set which featured a group of Territorial and Washington D.C. quarters.  Beginning in 2010, the National Parks State Quarter program is a new circulating U.S. quarter-dollar coin series. Similar to the 50 State Quarters Program, the U.S. Mint will issue the quarters at the rate of 5 coins per year for 11 years, producing one National Parks Quarter for each of the 50 U.S. states, plus Washington, D.C. and 4 territories.  

 The legislation which created the National Parks Quarters bill, HR 6184, is formally titled America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008. It was introduced by Rep. Michael Castle (R-Delaware) who has long been a proponent of important coin legislation. It was Castle who sponsored the original 50 State Quarters bill.

The actual design process itself will be determined by the U.S. Mint (with the Treasury Secretary's approval) but will probably be very similar to that which was used for the State Quarter designs and Presidential Dollars, since it works very well. Briefly, the process requires the states to create a short design narrative, which is then assigned to several artists who produce coin designs based on them. The states then choose the finalists, which are vetted by various commissions. The Treasury Secretary makes the final choice after considering everyone's input.

Following the State Quarter format, the bill provides for the issuance of numismatic or coin collectors' versions, of the National Parks State Quarters. The U.S. Mint is authorized to strike collectors' versions of the standard coins in Uncirculated and Proof finishes, plus versions in 90% silver.

The legislation also calls for the creation of a new type of coin. A 5-ounce .999 fine silver bullion coin measuring 3 inches in diameter is to be struck and sold as an "investment product." These 5-ounce coins will bear the same designs as their circulating counterparts. Additionally, these coins will have incused edge lettering that states their bullion content in weight and fineness. The face value will be twenty-five cents, since these coins are an exact replica of the circulating designs (except for the edge.)D