The newest state quarters honor Alaska with bags and rolls of the coins available Monday from the United States Mint.

Collectors can order 100- and 1,000-coin quarter bags or two-roll sets with 40 coins each from the U.S. Mint facility at Denver and Philadelphia.

The Alaska state quarter is the 49th, and second to last coin released in the United States Mint 50 State Quarters® Program. The popular program began in 1999 and ends with the Hawaii commemorative quarter set for release in November. To date, over 33.7 billion state quarters have been struck.

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The ceremonial launch of the commemorative Alaska state quarter will occur at the Alaska State Fair, the United States Mint announced Thursday.

The Alaska state quarter is the 49th coin in the popular United States Mint 50 State Quarters® Program.

The reverse or tails side of the coin features a grizzly bear emerging from the water clutching a salmon in its jaws.  The North Star is depicted above the inscription “The Great Land.” 

Additional inscriptions are “Alaska” and “1959,” which is the year the state was admitted into the Union.

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Arizona quarters were launched into circulation yesterday with the United States Mint release ceremony on the lawn of the state Capital in Phoenix.

The ceremony was full of local excitement with a Mariachi band playing, free mint ice-cream drumsticks and free Arizona quarters for everyone 18 and under. Earlier, United States Mint Director Ed Moy commented,

"Children make up a good portion of the 147 million Americans plugging the coins into their commemorative folios or folders. This has educated a whole generation of Americans in geography and history."

The Arizona state quarter is strikingly attractive with its Grand Canyon and saguaro cactus design theme. Over 4,200 quarter design suggestions from across the state were sent to the 24-member Arizona State Quarter Commission appointed by Governor Janet Napolitano.

From those, five designs rendered were created by United States Mint artists, and the final one selected as the template for some 500 million minted Arizona quarters.

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A few days ago the U.S. Mint announced the release ceremony for the Arizona state quarter. On the same day of the ceremony, June 2, 2008, millions of Arizona state quarters will have been minted.

Demand dictates how many Arizona quarters there will be in total. Based on previous state quarter production figures, around 500 million is a likely bet.

Getting hundreds of millions of coins into circulation takes time. Instead of waiting for the Arizona 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.

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Arizona, the Grand Canyon state, will launch their grand quarter into circulation starting with an official release ceremony on June 2, 2008. The public invited event will host Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano and United States Mint Director Ed Moy and includes several planned activities. There is also a special Coin Collectors Forum on the day prior.

The Arizona commemorative quarter is the third for this year and the 48th quarter-dollar in the 50 State Quarters® Program set for release. Arizona was the 48th state to be admitted into the Union on February 14, 1912. 

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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.

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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:

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2008 State Quarter Silver Proof Sets are now on sale by the United States Mint with each priced at $25.95. The non silver version of the state quarter proof sets went on sale back in January and are available for $13.95.

The main difference between the two is the 90% silver contained within each quarter of the silver sets. Both sets contain five proof quarters with their honoring commemorative designs:

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2008 State Quarter Proof Sets are now for sale by the United States Mint. The set cointains five proof quarters with their commemorative designs honoring:

• Oklahoma
• New Mexico
• Arizona
• Alaska
• Hawaii

These states represent the last to be honored in the 50 State Quarters® Program - a ten year program that started back in 1999 with the release of a new state quarter design every 10 weeks.

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The Oklahoma state quarter officially launched into circulation Monday, Jan. 28. Thousands of people were on hand at the state’s Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City where the ceremonially event took place.

United States Mint Acting Deputy Director Dan Shaver joined Governor and Mrs. Brad Henry in hosting the festivities.

“2007 was an exciting year for the Sooner State, celebrating its centennial,” said Shaver. “Today’s issuance of this beautiful Oklahoma quarter serves as an encore to the state’s centennial, and the coin itself will serve as a lasting, nationwide tribute to Oklahoma, its heritage and its people.”

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