The 2008 United States Silver Proof Set™ will be offered by the U.S. Mint Tuesday, August 26 at noon (ET). The 14 coin proof set carries the same $44.95 price tag as the 2007 sets, and no order limits are in place.
Each coin in the set bears the “S” mint mark, denoting they were manufactured at the United States Mint at San Francisco.
This year’s set includes the final five commemorative quarters to be issued in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program:
- 2008-S Silver Oklahoma Quarter
- 2008-S Silver New Mexico Quarter
- 2008-S Silver Arizona Quarter
- 2008-S Silver Alaska Quarter
- 2008-S Silver Hawaii Quarter
In addition, the proof set contains the following five $1 dollar coins:
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The United States Mint 2008 Arizona Official First Day Cover went on sale today, June 30.
The 35,000 limited edition covers are the 48th in the series and include two shiny Arizona state quarters featuring an image of the Grand Canyon with a Saguaro cactus in the foreground.
The quarter-dollars were collected from the first day of their production — May 8, 2008. One quarter is from the Mint’s Denver facility while the other is minted from Philadelphia.
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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.
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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.
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The United States Mint 2008 Oklahoma Official First Day Covers went on sale Wednesday, February 27. These limited edition covers include two Oklahoma state quarters with the “Scissortail Flycatcher” design that were minted on the first day of production. One quarter is from the Mint’s Denver facility while the other is from its Philadelphia location.
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Today, Dec. 26, President George Bush signed into law H.R. 2764, the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2008. While the President was unhappy with portions of the bill:
"…I am disappointed in the way the Congress compiled this legislation, including abandoning the goal I set early this year to reduce the number and cost of earmarks by half. Instead, the Congress dropped into the bill nearly 9,800 earmarks that total more than $10 billion. These projects are not funded through a merit-based process and provide a vehicle for wasteful Government spending…"
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In a blaze of actions and to get home for the holidays, the Senate and House tossed together a several hundred page bill named, The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008. The bill has been given to the President and while there’s no guarantee, the signing of it seems likely.
(Editor’s update: President Bush signed the act into law Dec. 26.)
Even with the latest and greatest computer, the digital document takes seconds to load. Reading it in its entirety… well, that’s hours of tedium. Thanks to modern search tools, quicker inspection is possible. And upon review, the bill contains a few nuggets of interest for coin collectors.
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The mass media many times tends to focus on topics that are popular and will catch the viewer or reader’s eye.
The U.S. Mint announcement showing artist renderings of the final 2008 state quarters proved to be popular with the media, which provides another barometer reading that underscores the success of the 50 States Quarters® Program.
On the day after the announcement, some interesting state quarter facts, figures and quotes rise to the top of many articles due to their frequency in use. They also reflect to some degree the popularity and success of the quarters with the public.
A few interesting state quarter numbers
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