State-Quarter.com

WASHINGTON – The United States Mint today announced that the limited edition of 75,000 Florida Official First Day Coin Covers will be available online at www.usmint.gov, beginning at noon (E.T.) on April 26, 2004.

Priced at $19.95, the Florida Official First Day Coin Cover, which is also available through the United States Mint’s Subscription Program, features two Florida commemorative quarter-dollars – one each bearing a mint mark from the United States Mint at Philadelphia and Denver.

Struck on March 1, 2004, the first day of mintage, the quarter-dollar coins are mounted on a handsome display card with a cancelled 37-cent United States Flag postage stamp.

The postmark of “March 29, 2004” marks the day the Florida quarter-dollars were first released to the Federal Reserve Bank and to the public. The Florida quarter-dollar is the 27th in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® 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.

On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state to be admitted into the Union. The design incorporates a Spanish galleon, a space shuttle and the inscription “Gateway to Discovery.” A strip of land with sabal palm trees is also depicted.

Florida, home to the Kennedy Space Center, has been the starting point for most of the modern era’s most significant scientific space expeditions – from Man’s first moon landing to the Voyager probe currently exploring deep space outside our solar system. From 16th-century Spanish galleons to 21st-century space exploration, Florida has been the stage for humanity’s quest for knowledge and discovery.

Customers can purchase the Florida 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.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.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-dollar is released. A shipping and handling fee of $4.95 per order will be added to all orders. Please allow approximately three to four weeks for delivery.

Florida Celebrates “Gateway to Discovery”

Kennedy Space Center, Florida – It was a launch of a different sort for the John F. Kennedy Space Center, as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Samuel Bodman and United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore joined Governor Jeb Bush, NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe and citizens of the Sunshine State in celebrating the new Florida commemorative quarter-dollar coin.

The Florida quarter design features a space shuttle, a 16th century Spanish galleon and the inscription “Gateway to Discovery.” A strip of land with sabal palm trees is also depicted.

“On behalf of President Bush and Secretary Snow, I am very pleased to participate in this event with Governor Bush, Administrator O’Keefe and Director Fore,” said Deputy Secretary Bodman. “Today we celebrate not only the important role that coins play in our Nation’s economy, but also the many contributions of the great State of Florida to American innovation and to our national spirit of exploration and discovery.”

“Your Florida quarter carries the spirit of exploration in the air, on land, and at sea,” said Director Fore. “It is the spirit of America.”

Children attending the festivities each received a shiny new Florida quarter. Adults were able to exchange their dollars and coins for rolls of Florida quarters furnished by credit union representatives.

“Florida truly is the ‘Gateway to Discovery’,” said Governor Bush. “Our residents should be proud to know that citizens nationwide will now be carrying a symbol of our State’s history – its past and its future.”

The Florida quarter is the second to be issued in 2004, and the 27th quarter in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program. On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state to be admitted into the Union. The dates 1845 and 2004 are both on the reverse of the Florida quarter.

Florida, home to the Kennedy Space Center, has been the starting point for the modern era’s most significant scientific space expeditions – from Man’s first moon landing to the Voyager probe currently exploring deep space outside our solar system. From 16th century Spanish galleons to 21st century space exploration, Florida has been the stage for humanity’s quest for knowledge and discovery.

Florida quarters in two-roll sets and bags are available on the United States Mint’s website at www.usmint.gov, and by calling 1-800-USA-MINT. Lesson plans can also be downloaded from the website. The plans feature the Florida quarter and the 26 previous quarters issued.

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

Created by Congress in 1792, the United States Mint is the manufacturer of legal tender coinage for the United States. In FY 2003, the United States Mint manufactured approximately 11.4 billion coins and generated gross revenue of $1.4 billion.

WASHINGTON — The United States Mint announced today that quarter-dollar coins honoring Florida, the second coin in the 50 State Quarters® Program to be released in 2004, will go on sale beginning March 29, 2004, at noon (Eastern Time), and will be available for purchase during the 10-week release period. The Florida quarters 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 Florida quarters are also available as part of the United States Mint’s popular Subscription Program.

On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state to be admitted into the Union. The design incorporates a 16th century Spanish galleon, a space shuttle and the inscription “Gateway to Discovery.” A strip of land with sabal palm trees is also depicted.

Florida, home to the Kennedy Space Center, has been the starting point for most of the modern era’s significant scientific space expeditions – from Man’s first moon landing to the Voyager probe currently exploring deep space outside our solar system. From 16th-century Spanish galleons to 21st-century space exploration, Florida has been the stage for humanity’s quest for knowledge and discovery.

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, “FL” designating the State of Florida, 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. Each bag is marked with the mint of origin and the dollar value of its contents ($25 or $250). 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 at Philadelphia and Denver. There is no order limit on these products.

Customers can purchase the Florida 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. 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 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). 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.