-30- on 50


The 50 State Quarters® program has concluded. I haven't seen an actual Hawaii quarter yet. My favorite of the 49 I have seen is the Connecticut Charter Oak tribute. What a beautiful piece. In second place is the Oregon Crater Lake quarter.

The Mississippi magnolia looked beautiful as a drawing on the Mint website but the coin itself doesn't have much going for it. I didn't like any of the quarters that did the "Three Things About Our State" conglomeration. The Alabama quarter is really loaded, isn't it? I hadn't realized there was Braille on it, too.

There was controversy about Missouri's quarter when the artist protested the way the Mint altered his design. Most of the designs considered for the Missouri quarter depicted the state as a place to pass through on the way to somewhere else. I liked the one that had a raft. At least it evoked Mark Twain and a state that can lay claim to Mark Twain should do so every chance it gets.

Watch for four new pennies in celebration of Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial. I don't collect coins but the "First Spouse" series looks interesting.