State-Quarter.com

Celebrating “John Muir, Yosemite Valley and California Condor”

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore joined Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver at the California State History Museum to launch the California commemorative quarter-dollar today. The reverse design on the new quarter depicts naturalist and conservationist John Muir admiring Yosemite Valley’s Half Dome. Soaring amid the scene is a California condor. The coin bears the inscriptions “California,” “John Muir,” “Yosemite Valley” and “1850.”

“The California quarter honors California’s varied and profound natural beauty and John Muir, whose appreciation for the State’s dramatic landscape became his lifelong work and passion,” said Director Fore. “Today and for many years to come, this quarter will remind us of California’s promise and spirit.”

Following the launch ceremony, coin collectors of all ages exchanged their coins and bills for rolls of California quarters. Peter the Mint Eagle, the United States Mint’s mascot, was on hand to celebrate with the crowd.

The first quarter released in 2005, honoring California, is the 31st in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program. California was admitted into the Union on September 9, 1850, becoming our Nation’s 31st State.

In 1849, the year before California gained statehood, the family of 11-year-old John Muir emigrated from Scotland to the United States, settling in Wisconsin. In 1868, at the age of 30, Muir sailed up the West Coast and landed in San Francisco. He made his home in the Yosemite Valley, describing the Sierra Nevada Mountains as “the Range of Light… the most divinely beautiful of all the mountain chains I have seen.” He devoted the rest of his life to the conservation of natural beauty, publishing more than 300 articles and 10 books that expanded his naturalist philosophy.

In 1890, Congress established Yosemite National Park, and, in 1892, John Muir helped form the Sierra Club to protect it, serving as that organization’s President until his death in 1914.

The California condor, with a wingspan as long as nine feet, is also featured on the coin in a tribute to the successful repopulation of the bird that was once nearly extinct.

Lesson plans about the California coin may be downloaded free from the United States Mint website at http://www.usmint.gov/kids. Teachers, parents and students can also explore the many other teaching aids, and the games, puzzles, and stories for kids that show how coins are “history in your pocket.”

The California quarter is available in two-roll sets (40 coins per roll), including one roll each from the United States Mint at Philadelphia and Denver, and in bags of 100 and 1,000 coins, at the United States Mint website at www.usmint.gov. The two-roll sets are $32.00, bags of 100 coins are $35.50, and bags of 1,000 coins are $300.00.

For a high resolution photograph of the California Quarter, please visit http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/index.cfm?action=Photo#SQ2005

VIDEO AVAILABLE — Satellite Feed of B-Roll California State Quarter Launch; State Archives Reference Room, Sacramento, CA.

Satellite feed date: January 31, 2005; Feed time: 3:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m. ET, IA 6, Transp. 15; DL 4000V

Satellite feed date: February 1, 2005; Feed Time; 1:00-1:15 p.m. ET, IA 6m Transp. 15; DL 4120

This b-roll produced by the United States Mint will contain: 1.Close-up of new California quarter; 2. Scenes from launch event at the California State History Museum; 3. Sound bites of officials from the event, launching the new California quarter.

Five-Coin Set Features Silver Proof Versions of Quarters Honoring California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas and West Virginia

WASHINGTON – The United States Mint today announced that the 2005 United States Mint 50 State Quarters Silver Proof Set™ will be released February 9, 2005, at 12:00 noon (ET). The release date for this product is two months earlier than in 2004, as part of the United States Mint’s commitment to make many of its 2005 products available earlier in the year.

Priced at $23.95, the United States Mint 50 State Quarters Silver Proof Set includes all five new commemorative quarter-dollar coins issued in 2005 through the United States Mint 50 State Quarters® Program. Minted in proof condition in 90% silver, otherwise known as coin silver, the quarters honor California (“John Muir and Yosemite Valley”), Minnesota (“Land of 10,000 Lakes”), Oregon (“Crater Lake”), Kansas (“Buffalo and Sunflower”), and West Virginia (“New River Gorge”).

Each of these beautiful silver proof coins has a distinctive cameo appearance created by the contrast of a finely detailed frosted foreground against a shimmering, mirror-like background. Produced at the United States Mint at San Francisco, the coins bear the “S” mint mark. The sealed cases containing the coins are inserted into a specially printed sleeve and are accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity.

Because we expect demand for the United States Mint 50 State Quarters Silver Proof Set to be high, as it was with last year’s premier issue, customers are encouraged to place orders early. This product is available through the United States Mint’s Online Subscription Program. For more information about this convenient ordering method, please visit www.usmint.gov.

Customers can purchase the United States Mint 50 State Quarters Silver Proof Set online through its secure website at www.usmint.gov, or by calling toll-free 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468) 8:00 a.m. to midnight (ET), seven days a week. Hearing- and speech-impaired customers may order by calling 1-888-321-MINT (6468) 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday.

WASHINGTON — The United States Mint announced today that commemorative quarter-dollar coins honoring California, the first coin in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program to be released in 2005, will go on sale beginning January 31, 2005, at 12:00 noon (ET), and will be available for purchase during the 10-week release period. The California 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 September 9, 1850, California was admitted into the Union, becoming our Nation’s 31st State. Nicknamed the “Golden State,” California’s quarter depicts naturalist and conservationist John Muir admiring Yosemite Valley’s monolithic granite headwall known as Half Dome. Soaring between the naturalist and the mountain is a California condor. The coin bears the inscriptions “California,” “John Muir,” “Yosemite Valley” and “1850.”

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, “CA” designating the State of California, 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 California 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 an Online Subscription 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.

New Plans Latest in Line of 50 State Quarters® Curriculum Materials

WASHINGTON—The United States Mint has posted its new set of 50 State Quarters® Program lesson plans for 2005.

Click here to download the plans for free from the United States Mint website. The plans feature the California, Minnesota, Kansas, Oregon and West Virginia commemorative quarter-dollar coins to be released this year.

The 50 State Quarters series of lesson plans has been used by thousands of teachers across the country since the popular initiative began in 1999.

“When coins are used to teach not only addition and subtraction, but also art, history, geography and financial literacy, they become keys to a broader world,” said United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore. “Coins are a great teaching tool, and our lesson plans reinforce their educational value.”

The United States Mint H.I.P. Pocket Change™ website at www.usmint.gov/kids originally featured lesson plans that were designed for grades K through 6. The plans were recently expanded to include grades 7 through 12. The site also offers many other educational resources, such as Teacher Features (classroom activities designed to support games and other features on the site) and the Time Machine (animated, interactive trips to important events in American history).

Created and reviewed by teachers to meet national curricular standards, the United States Mint lesson plans draw upon the reverse designs of the 50 State Quarters coins to inspire students to learn about the culture, geography, and unique heritage of each state. Each set of lesson plans blends clear instructions with student-friendly reproducible worksheets, background information and answer keys to help make instruction easier for educators.

Also, watch the site for the new Westward Journey Nickel Series™ lesson plans as the coins are released during 2005. These plans will join the nickel lesson plans already available for the 2004 designs.

For more information, free educational resources, games, and lesson plans from previous years, visit www.usmint.gov/kids.