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Nation’s Money Maker Sets Up Colorful Booth in Baltimore at Huge Social Studies Conference

BALTIMORE – The United States Mint is bringing its educational initiatives to the National Council for the Social Studies 84th Annual Conference in Baltimore, and among the many online programs offered will be a virtual time machine. Those who log on to United States Mint computers at the conference may travel through history to solve coin mysteries in the Nation’s colonial, revolutionary and westward expansion eras.

Classroom teachers, Social Studies supervisors and curriculum specialists will attend the conference, the Nation’s largest such meeting devoted to Social Studies education. From Friday, November 19th through Sunday, November 21st the United States Mint will welcome conference guests to its colorful booth, highlighting the award-winning United States Mint H.I.P. Pocket Change™ website, at http://www.usmint.gov/kids, where visitors can experience the new and improved Time Machine, one of the site’s most popular features. “H.I.P.” stands for History in Your Pocket. Educators will also learn how they may download free K-12 lesson plans and materials, featuring the United States 50 State Quarters® Program and the Westward Journey Nickel Series™. Teachers Guides to the United States Mint website will be handed out.

Educators will have the opportunity to join the United States Mint Teachers Network. More than 3,000 teachers across the country are notified regularly via e-mail when new lesson plans are added. The teachers also receive the “Making Cents” quarterly newsletter and detailed overviews on H.I.P. Pocket Change projects. Educators who sign up for the Teachers Network will have the opportunity to win a basket containing United States Mint educational resources and other goodies. Peter the Mint Eagle, the United States Mint mascot, will be on hand to greet visitors at the booth on Friday.

“When children hold a new coin from the Westward Journey Nickel Series or the 50 State Quarters Program, it’s a small piece of history, art and culture in their hands,” said United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore. “By taking students back in time or using United States Mint lesson plans, teachers are finding innovative ways to make social studies come alive.”

Created by Congress in 1792, the United States Mint is the manufacturer of legal tender coinage for the United States. The United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program is the most popular coin program in U.S. history. The United States Mint also produces commemorative coins and Congressional medals honoring those persons whose superior deeds and achievements have enriched our history, or the world.

WASHINGTON — The United States Mint announced today that commemorative quarter-dollar coins honoring Wisconsin, the fifth coin in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program to be released in 2004, will go on sale beginning October 25, 2004, at 12:00 noon (ET), and will be available for purchase during the 10-week release period. The Wisconsin quarter-dollars are available in two-roll sets (40 coins per roll), including one roll each from the United States Mint facilities at Philadelphia and Denver, and in bags of 100 and 1,000 coins.

On May 29, 1848, Wisconsin became the 30th state to be admitted into the Union. The Wisconsin design depicts an agricultural theme, featuring a dairy cow, a round of cheese, and an ear of corn. The design also bears an inscription of the State motto, “Forward.” Wisconsin adopted the State motto, “Forward,” in 1851, reflecting the State’s continuous drive to be a national leader. Wisconsin produces more than 15 percent of the Nation’s milk and more than 350 varieties of cheese. Wisconsin is also a major corn producer. State corn production contributed $882.4 million to the Wisconsin economy in 2003.

Each coin roll in the two-roll set is wrapped in a specially designed United States Mint paper coin wrap that prominently displays the 50 State Quarters Program logo, a “P” or “D” representing the roll’s mint of origin, “WI” designating the State of Wisconsin, and “$10” representing its dollar value. Two-roll sets will sell for $32.00, bags of 100 coins for $35.50, and bags of 1,000 coins for $300.00. Each bag is marked with the mint of origin and the dollar value of its contents ($25.00 or $250.00). These two-roll sets and bags feature quarters used in regular transactions and are struck on our main production floors at the United States Mint facilities at Philadelphia and Denver. There is no order limit on these products.

Customers can purchase the Wisconsin quarter-dollars in two-roll sets and bags by using the United States Mint’s secure website, www.usmint.gov, or by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). As an added convenience, customers can participate in a subscription-ordering program in which specific products, such as two-roll sets and bags, are charged and shipped to the customer automatically as each new quarter is released. For more information about this ordering method, please visit www.usmint.gov. Hearing- and speech-impaired customers may order by calling 1-888-321-MINT (6468). A shipping and handling fee of $4.95 per order will be added to all domestic orders. Quarter bags of 1,000 coins will have an additional charge of $7.95 per bag because of their weight and size.