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WASHINGTON – The United States Mint today announced that the limited edition of 75,000 Maine Official First Day Coin Covers will be available online at www.usmint.gov beginning 12:00 noon (E.D.T.) on June 30, 2003.

Priced at $19.95, the Maine Official First Day Coin Cover, which is also available through the United States Mint’s Subscription Program, features two Maine quarters – one each bearing a Philadelphia and Denver mint mark – from May 5, 2003, the first day of mintage, on a handsome display card with a 37-cent United States Flag postage stamp.

The postmark of “June 2, 2003, Bristol, Maine” indicates the day the quarters were released to the Federal Reserve Bank and the public. The Maine quarter is the 23rd in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quartersâ Program, which honors the states in the order that they ratified the Constitution or were admitted into the Union. Five state designs will be issued each year through 2008 at approximately 10-week intervals.

Maine became the 23rd state to be admitted into the Union, as part of the Missouri Compromise, on March 15, 1820. The Maine quarter design incorporates a rendition of the Pemaquid Point Light atop a granite coast and of a schooner at sea. Pemaquid Point Light is located in New Harbor, and marks the entrance to Muscongus Bay and Johns Bay. The light is still a beacon for ships and remains one of Maine’s most popular tourist attractions. The schooner resembles “Victory Chimes,” the last three-masted schooner of the Windjammer Fleet.

Customers can purchase the Maine Official First Day Coin Covers online through the United States Mint’s secure website at www.usmint.gov, or by calling toll-free 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468) 8:00 a.m. to midnight (E.D.T.), 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. (E.D.T.), Monday through Friday.

As an added convenience, customers can participate in a Subscription Program in which specific products, such as Official First Day Coin Covers, are charged and shipped to the customer automatically as each new state quarter is released. A shipping and handling fee of $3.95 per order will be added to all orders. Please allow approximately three to four weeks for delivery.

First U.S. Circulating Coin to Feature a Lighthouse

New Harbor, Maine – The new Maine quarter promises to light up America’s summer. Maine’s entry in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program is the first U.S. circulating coin to feature one of our Nation’s historic lighthouses.

United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore and Maine Governor John Baldacci formally launched the coin in a ceremony today before the dramatic Pemaquid Point Light, strikingly illustrated on the quarter. The Maine State commemorative quarter-dollar is the 23rd in the 50 State Quarters Program. It is the last of the New England quarters to be minted. Americans will start seeing this quarter in their pockets within weeks.

“As Americans enjoy their summer vacations, they will be buying ice cream cones with quarters featuring one of the picturesque lighthouses they love to visit,” said Director Fore.

“It is a great pleasure to kick-off the summer season by unveiling the new Maine State Quarter,” said Governor Baldacci. “Pemaquid Point is a spectacular setting for this historic event and our state quarter depicts a scene that demonstrates part of what makes Maine such a special place. I know this new quarter will enhance interest in our state, and serve an education role for children as part of the United States Mint’s Quarter Program.”

Additional participants in the ceremony included Maine State Treasurer Dale McCormick; Tom Wilcox, Executive Director of the Maine Maritime Museum; Tim Harrison, President of the American Lighthouse Foundation; Captain Kip Files of the schooner Victory Chimes; and Maine humorist Tim Sample.

The Maine quarter is the third to be released in 2003. Coins in the 50 State Quarters Program are released in the order the states were admitted into the Union. Maine became the 23rd state to be admitted into the Union on March 15, 1820.

The Maine quarter design also features the image of a schooner resembling Victory Chimes, the last three-masted schooner of the Windjammer Fleet. Victory Chimes has become synonymous with Maine windjamming.

Pemaquid Point Light is located in New Harbor, and marks the entrance to Muscongus Bay and Johns Bay. Since the beginning of ship activity in the area, a shoal created hazardous navigation conditions, causing many shipwrecks. As maritime trade increased in the area, so did the need for a lighthouse. In 1826, Congress appropriated funds to build a lighthouse at Pemaquid Point. The original building was replaced in 1835. The light is still a beacon for ships and remains one of Maine’s most popular tourist attractions.

In March 2001, former Governor Angus King established the Commission on the Maine State Quarter Design. The Pemaquid Point Light design was chosen by popular vote, with more than 100,000 Maine residents participating.

Governor Baldacci has been supportive of the 50 State Quarters Program and visited the United States Mint in Philadelphia, along with Congressman Michael Michaud, on May 12, 2003, when the United States Mint honored the Pine Tree State with Maine Quarter Day. The United States Mint officially released the Maine quarter to the Federal Reserve Bank on June 2, 2003.

The United States Mint’s collectible five-coin proof sets featuring all five state quarters for 2003 and other popular 50 State Quarters products are available on the United States Mint’s website, www.usmint.gov, and by calling 1-800-USA-MINT.

Launched in 1999, the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program is a 10-year initiative that honors each of the states in the order that they ratified the Constitution or were admitted into the Union. Each quarter is produced for about 10 weeks and will never be produced again. Surveys show that more than 130 million adults are collecting the quarters.

Created by Congress in 1792, the United States Mint is the manufacturer of legal tender coinage for the United States. In Fiscal Year 2002, the United States Mint manufactured approximately 15 billion coins and generated revenue of $1.8 billion and nearly $1 billion was returned to the United States Treasury. With facilities in five states and the District of Columbia, the United States Mint has customers in 54 countries and is the world’s 30th largest e-tailer.

For more information, please visit www.usmint.gov. For a digital photograph of the new Maine quarter, please visit: http://usmint.gov/pressroom/index.cfm?action=photo#SQ2003.

Satellite feed information Maine State Quarter Launch Pemaquid Point Light, New Harbor Maine Satellite feed date: June 9, 2003 Feed time: 3:00 p.m.-3:15 p.m. ET Coordinates: C-Band/ AMC2/Transponder 11 DL 3920 Satellite feed date: June 10, 2003 Feed time: 10:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m. ET Coordinates: C-Band/AMC2/Transponder 23 DL 4160 This B-roll will contain: 1. Close-up of new Maine quarter 2. Video of Maine quarters being produced by the United States Mint 3. Scenes from launch event at lighthouse in New Harbor, Maine 4. Soundbites of officials from the event, launching the new Maine quarter For more information on VNR, contact: Cynthia Meals, 202-354-7231

Washington — The United States Mint announced today that quarter-dollar coins honoring Maine, the third coin in the 50 State Quarters® Program to be released in 2003, will go on sale beginning June 2, 2003, at noon (E.D.T.), and will be available for purchase during the entire 10-week release period. The Maine quarters are available in two-roll sets (40 coins per roll), including one Philadelphia and Denver Mint mark coin roll each, and in bags of 100 and 1,000 coins separately from both Mint facilities. The Maine quarters are also available as part of the United States Mint’s popular Subscription Program.

Maine became the 23rd state to be admitted into the Union, as part of the Missouri Compromise, on March 15, 1820. The Maine quarter design incorporates a rendition of the Pemaquid Point Light atop a granite coast and of a schooner at sea. Pemaquid Point Light is located in New Harbor, and marks the entrance to Muscongus Bay and Johns Bay. The light is still a beacon for ships and remains one of Maine’s most popular tourist attractions. The schooner resembles “Victory Chimes,” the last three-masted schooner of the Windjammer Fleet.

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, “ME” designating the State of Maine, and “$10” representing its dollar value. Each bag is marked with the mint of origin and the dollar value of its contents ($25 or $250). Two-roll sets will sell for $32.00, bags of 100 coins for $35.50, and bags of 1,000 coins for $300. These two-roll sets and bags, featuring quarters used in regular transactions and struck on our main production floors at the Philadelphia and Denver Mint facilities, will be shipped directly from the United States Mint to customers. There is no order limit on these products.

Customers can purchase the Maine quarters in two-roll sets and bags online through the United States Mint’s secure website at www.usmint.gov, or by calling toll-free 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468) 8:00 a.m. to midnight (E.D.T.), 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. (E.D.T.), Monday through Friday. As an added convenience, customers can participate in a subscription-ordering program in which specific products, such as uncirculated coin sets and bags, are charged and shipped to the customer automatically as each new state quarter is released. For more information about this ordering method, please visit www.usmint.gov. A shipping and handling fee of $3.95 per order will be added to all domestic orders.

WASHINGTON - The United States Mint today announced that the 2003 United States Mint 50 State Quarters® Proof Set will be released March 24, 2003, at 12 noon (E.S.T.). The set features proof versions of the 2003 quarters issued under the 50 State Quarters® Program — Illinois, Alabama, Maine, Missouri and Arkansas — sealed in a presentation case. The set will sell for $13.95.

Proof coins are manufactured at the San Francisco Mint facility using specially prepared, highly polished dies. Bearing the “S” mint mark, each coin is struck at least twice to ensure the finest detail in a frosted cameo image on a bright, mirror-like background. The sealed cases containing the coins are inserted into a specially printed sleeve and are accompanied by an official United States Mint Certificate of Authenticity.

There is no household order limit. Customers may order as many sets as they desire while supplies last. This product is also available through the United States Mint’s subscription program. For more information about this convenient ordering method, please visit http://www.usmint.gov.

Customers can purchase the 2003 United States Mint 50 State Quarters Proof SetÔ online through the United States Mint’s secure website at http://www.usmint.gov, or by calling toll-free 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). Also, orders may be mailed to United States Mint, P.O. Box 382601, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-8601. A shipping and handling fee of $3.95 per order will be added to all domestic orders. Hearing and speech impaired customers may order by calling 1-888-321-MINT (6468) (TTY). Please allow two to three weeks for delivery.