The United States Mint 2008 New Mexico Official First Day Covers went on sale Thursday, May 8. The coin cover is 47th in the series released.
The limited edition covers include two New Mexico state quarters that were minted on the first day of production.
Each quarter has the state’s "Zia sun symbol” design with one manufactured from the Mint’s facility in Denver while the other from Philadelphia. The respective mint marks of "D" and "P" are on each.
The New Mexico state quarter entered circulation yesterday and it was kicked off with its ceremonial launch held at the state’s capitol building in Santa Fe.
Along with hundreds of people, including children and the Santa Fe All-Stars, on hand for the ceremony were New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and United States Mint Director Ed Moy.
Just days ago the United States Mint announced the release ceremony for the New Mexico state quarter. By the time the ceremony happens, millions of New Mexico state quarters will have been minted.
Although the final production numbers will depend on demand, it’s noteworthy that the mintage production figures exceeded 500,000,000 for each state quarter released in 2007.
Getting hundreds of millions of coins into circulation takes time. Instead of waiting for the New Mexico quarter, collectors will have the opportunity to buy special Mint-sewn bags and a two-roll set of them directly from the U.S. Mint.
The second commemorative state quarter for release in 2008 honors New Mexico. The countdown for its circulation has officially started with the U.S. Mint’s announcement of the release ceremony on April 7, 2008. There is also a special coin collectors forum on the day prior.
The New Mexico quarter is the 47th coin in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program. Roughly 1,000 concepts were suggested by New Mexico residents. Four of them were given to the U.S. Mint for artist renderings:
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.
