New Quarter-Dollars Brought Uncle Sam Billions – 25 Cents at a Time
The Hawaii state commemorative quarter-dollars that go into circulation starting November 10 may provide the public with yet another opportunity to find a mini fortune in their pocket change. They also end a resoundingly successful ten-year program that helped reduce the federal budget deficit by billions of dollars – 25 cents at a time, according to David L. Ganz, author of the just-published book by Random House, America’s State Quarters.
Ganz urges people to carefully look at their pocket change because some of the state quarters can be worth between $100 and more than $1,000 each because of minting mistakes.
"For example, some of the Wisconsin state quarters made in 2004 have an extra leaf on the cornstalk on the tail’s side, and those are selling for over $100 each now. Other state quarters, mistakenly struck on the wrong metal blanks, have sold for $1,000 or more. It will be interesting to see what potentially valuable mistakes and varieties people may find with the Hawaii quarter when it goes into circulation," said Ganz, a former President of the American Numismatic Association.
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The U.S. Mint has produced a whopping 33,774,200,000 state quarters since the inception of the 50 State Quarters® Program in 1999. The total does not include the several hundred million Arizona state quarters that started to hit circulation in June. And by the program’s completion with the final Hawaiian commemorative later this year, the Mint will have issued well over 34 billion state quarters.
That’s quite impressive, despite a slowing U.S. circulating coin pace. And in reality, the Mint’s quarter production output is many millions higher.
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Flashing back to the introduction of the 50 State Quarters® Program and you’re hit over the head with how fast time really does fly by.
The year was 1999 - the initiation year of an innovative, 10-year coin series where each state would be celebrated with a design commemorating its history and inclusion into the Union.
Since, we’ve experienced five new state quarters every year. And each quarter has a different reverse (tails) image and theme.
The quarters have not only helped highlight states’ history but have driven many Americans toward a new hobby, collecting coins.
And with that, new coins have been introduced and are continually planned in an attempt to keep that percolated numismatic interest high.
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