忻日子 by Sheena

Since 1999, the U.S. Mint's 50 State Quarters Program has been releasing a new state quarter every 10 weeks. Each of the 50 states gets its commemorative quarter issued in order of the state's admission into the union; hence it's finally time for Oklahoma -- the 46th state.

According to the Associated Press, the coin is being produced at the mint in Denver and will be placed in circulation Jan. 28. It is said that more than 500 million of the Oklahoma quarters will be produced.

The program was first introduced by Delaware Rep. Michael Castle in 1997. It was designed to raise geographic and historical awareness. The tail side of the Oklahoma quarter features the scissortail flycatcher in flight with a field of Indian blanket wildflowers on the bottom half. The name Oklahoma is at the top with the year of statehood -- 1907 -- underneath.

According to the United States Mint, over 100 million individuals have collected state quarters, either formally or informally, making it the most successful numismatic program in history. Here's a complete listing of the 50 quarters designs.


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- Wikipedia on 50 State Quarters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_State_Quarters