Today, November 27, the United States Mint released pictures of how the last state commemorative quarters will look. 2008 is the final year for the highly successful 50 State Quarters® Program - a program that has stimulated the excitement and the coin collecting spirit into millions.

The final five quarters and their pictures as shown from left to right are: Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii.

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There’s nothing better than some variety between coins to peak a person’s interest and excitement. The 50 State Quarters® and new Presidential $1 Coins highlight how changing a coin’s design every few months can kindle passion with at least collectors.

What’s your excitement level when a batch of coins gets minted but a percentage of them have slight variations compared to others in that coin’s series?

Hold your thoughts… In this case, we’re not talking about coins with errors due to mint manufacturing mistakes or unintended die varieties. (Although these are very intriguing for many collectors too.) Let’s dig in a bit more…

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I was up late channel surfing one night when I happened to come upon the very beginning of one of those TV coin shows. The host was quickly previewing several of the coins that would be discussed during the show. I must admit, my annoyance swelled up just as quickly!

The preview prices were much higher than I would have expected. I almost immediately changed channels. But instead, I hit the record button and committed myself to watching it later. I was curious – just not that curious at the time. Well, I finally took the time to watch it… My reactions?

I was dismayed, yet impressed. I was shocked, yet interested. The dismay and shock came mostly from pricing. There were clearly too many instances where you could purchase similar coins elsewhere and spend much, much less.

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