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WASHINGTON – The United States Mint today announced that the limited edition of 75,000 Missouri Official First Day Coin Covers will be available online at www.usmint.gov beginning 12:00 noon (Eastern Time) on September 8, 2003.

Priced at $19.95, the Missouri Official First Day Coin Cover, which is also available through the United States Mint’s Subscription Program, features two Missouri quarter-dollars – one each bearing a Philadelphia and Denver mint mark – from July 14, 2003, the first day of mintage, on a handsome display card with a 37-cent United States Flag postage stamp.

The postmark of “August 4, 2003, Saint Louis Station, Saint Louis, Missouri, 63155” indicates the day the quarter-dollars were released to the Federal Reserve Bank and to the public. The Missouri quarter-dollar is the 24th in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quartersâ Program, which honors the states in the order that they ratified the U.S. Constitution or were admitted into the Union. Five state designs will be issued each year through 2008 at approximately 10-week intervals.

Missouri became the 24th state to be admitted into the Union on August 10, 1821, as a part of the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri quarter-dollar depicts Lewis and Clark’s historic return to St. Louis down the Missouri River, with the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Gateway Arch) in the background. The quarter is inscribed “Corps of Discovery 1804-2004.”

Customers can purchase the Missouri 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.

SEDALIA, MISSOURI – As the Lewis and Clark Fife and Drum Corp played, United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore, Missouri Governor Bob Holden and First Lady Lori Hauser Holden officially launched the new Missouri state quarter at the State Fair in Sedalia today. The United States Mint’s mascot, Peter the Mint Eagle, was on hand as children in the crowd received shiny new Missouri quarter-dollars.

Dr. Robert Archibald, President of the National Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and co-Chairman of the Missouri Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission, acted as Master of Ceremonies. The new quarter is the first circulating coin to depict Lewis and Clark’s historic expedition nearly 200 years ago, depicting the explorers’ return to Saint Louis down the Missouri River. The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (the Gateway Arch) is illustrated in the background, with the inscription “Corps of Discovery 1804-2004.”

The Show Me state’s launch celebration marks the first time in the 50 State Quarters® Program that the official ceremony has coincided with a state’s birthday – its day of statehood. Missouri became the 24th state to be admitted into the Union on August 10, 1821, as part of the Missouri Compromise.

“The Missouri quarter depicts the rich history and the spirit of adventure at the heart of this great state and our Nation,” said United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore. “We have a special affinity for Missouri at the Mint, since Nellie Tayloe Ross, born near St. Joseph, was the first woman to serve as Director of the Mint, from 1933 to 1953.”

In February 2001, Governor Bob Holden announced the selection of the Missouri Commemorative Quarter Design Committee and requested statewide design submissions. During the month of March, the state received more than 3,000 concept submissions. The Missouri Commemorative Quarter Design Committee, composed of a team of experts, selected twelve finalists. The twelve finalists were presented to the public, who chose five concepts to forward to the United States Mint. The concepts included representations of the Nation’s westward expansion, a riverboat, the Pony Express, and Lewis and Clark’s expedition. From the candidate designs that the United States Mint returned to Governor Holden, the Lewis and Clark design, “Corps of Discovery 1804-2004″, was chosen by an online vote.

The 8,000-mile journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark westward and back, which some claim was the greatest U.S. military expedition ever, began in St. Charles, Missouri — just 20 miles west of St. Louis — in 1804 and ended when they returned to St. Louis, Missouri in 1806. The United States Mint officially released the Missouri quarter to the Federal Reserve Bank on August 4, 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 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 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 FY 2002, the United States Mint manufactured approximately 15 billion coins and generated revenue of $1.8 billion.

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

WASHINGTON– The United States Mint announced today that state commemorative quarter-dollar coins honoring Missouri, the fourth coin in the 50 State Quarters® Program to be released in 2003, will go on sale beginning August 4, 2003, at 12:00 noon (E.D.T.), and will be available for purchase during the 10-week release period. The Missouri quarter-dollar coins are available in two-roll sets (40 coins per roll), including one Philadelphia and one Denver mint mark coin roll each, and in bags of 100 and 1,000 coins. The Missouri quarter-dollar coins are also available as part of the United States Mint’s popular Subscription Program.

Missouri became the 24th state to be admitted into the Union on August 10, 1821, as a part of the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri quarter-dollar coin depicts Lewis and Clark’s historic return to St. Louis down the Missouri River, with the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Gateway Arch) in the background. The quarter-dollar coin is inscribed, “Corps of Discovery 1804-2004.”

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, “MO” designating the State of Missouri, 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 Missouri quarter-dollar coins 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) 8:00 a.m. to midnight (Eastern Time), seven days a week. As an added convenience, customers can participate in the Subscription Program in which specific products, such as quarter two-roll 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. Hearing- and speech-impaired customers may order by calling 1-888-321-MINT (6468) 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time), Monday through Friday. 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.