State Quarters: How To Collect Them & When Each State Went Into Circulation

Written by Jay on January 27, 2008 | Comments (0)

Collecting the 50 state quarters is a great way to get started in coin collecting.

The statehood quarters are a set that is fun for everybody -- whether you've been collecting coins for years, or if you've never collected coins before -- because they can be found in everyday pocket change.

Did You Know?...
The state quarter program began in 1999 and will continue through 2008.

In all, 50 quarters are to be minted -- one for each state. They are being released into circulation in the order that the statehoods came into existence.

State Quarter Maps
The easiest way to collect state quarters is to buy a state quarter map, which is specially designed just for these coins. The map of the United States has an illustration for each state and an opening to place the corresponding state quarter.

You can find a state quarter map here.

Quarter maps are also a great way to get kids into the hobby!

State Quarter Folders
If you're a little more serious about coin collecting and you want your state quarter collection to include all of the quarters, then you'll probably want to get a state quarter folder.

The difference between state maps and state folders is that the state folder doesn't have illustrations of the states, but it does have two corresponding holes for each state instead of one. (One is labeled "P" and one is labeled "D".) This is because 2 different mints produce these coins, so some will have a P mint mark and some will have a D mark.

You can also find a state quarter folder here.

The Most Valuable State Quarters
All of the state quarters were minted into the hundreds of millions, so I wouldn't say there's really a most sought after state quarter unless it's an error coin.

Some of them may seem harder to obtain, but they're really not. It's all just a matter of how many were released in your area. If there's a stubborn one that doesn't seem to have circulated its way into your area yet, just check on E-bay and you're sure to find it for not much more than a quarter.

For what it's worth, I believe the Virginia quarter (minted in Philadelphia) has the most in circulation with 943,000,000 minted, and the Iowa quarter (also minted in Philadelphia) has the least in circulation with 213,000,000 minted.

A Little About Each Of The State Quarters
Below is a list of all the statehood quarters, in order of their release date. (The date on the left is the date that state quarter was released, and the date of the right is the date that state came into statehood.)

1999
January 04, 1999 - Delaware - December 07, 1787
March 08, 1999 - Pennsylvania - December 12, 1787
May 17, 1999 - New Jersey - December 18, 1787
July 19, 1999 - Georgia - January 02, 1788
October 12, 1999 - Connecticut - January 09, 1788

2000
January 03, 2000 - Massachusetts - February 06, 1788
March 13, 2000 - Maryland - April 28, 1788
May 22, 2000 - South Carolina - May 23, 1788
August 07, 2000 - New Hampshire - June 21, 1788
October 16, 2000 - Virginia - June 25, 1788

2001
January 02, 2001 - New York - July 26, 1788
March 12, 2001 - North Carolina - November 21, 1789
May 21, 2001 - Rhode Island - May 29, 1790
August 06, 2001 - Vermont - March 04, 1791
October 15, 2001 - Kentucky - June 01, 1792

2002
January 02, 2002 - Tennessee - June 01, 1796
March 11, 2002 - Ohio - March 01, 1803
May 20, 2002 - Louisiana - April 30, 1812
August 02, 2002 - Indiana - December 11, 1816
October 15, 2002 - Mississippi - December 10, 1817

2003
January 02, 2003 - Illinois - December 03, 1818
March 17, 2003 - Alabama - December 14, 1819
June 02, 2003 - Maine - March 15, 1820
August 04, 2003 - Missouri - August 10, 1821
October 20, 2003 - Arkansas - June 15, 1836

2004
January 26, 2004 - Michigan - January 26, 1837
March 29, 2004 - Florida - March 03, 1845
June 01, 2004 - Texas - December 29, 1845
August 30, 2004 - Iowa - December 28, 1846
October 25, 2004 - Wisconsin - May 29, 1848

2005
January 31, 2005 - California - September 09, 1850
April 04, 2005 - Minnesota - May 11, 1858
June 06, 2005 - Oregon - February 14, 1859
August 29, 2005 - Kansas - January 29, 1861
October 14, 2005 - West Virginia - June 20, 1863

2006
January 30, 2006 - Nevada - October 31, 1864
April 03, 2006 - Nebraska - March 01, 1867
June 14, 2006 - Colorado - August 01, 1876
August 28, 2006 - North Dakota - November 02, 1889
November 06, 2006 - South Dakota - November 02, 1889

2007
January 29, 2007 - Montana - November 08, 1889
April 02, 2007 - Washington - November 11, 1889
June 04, 2007 - Idaho - July 03, 1890
September 04, 2007 - Wyoming - July 10, 1890
November 05, 2007 - Utah - January 04, 1896

2008
January 28, 2008 - Oklahoma - November 16, 1907
April 2008 - New Mexico - January 06, 1912
June 2008 - Arizona - February 14, 1912
August 2008 - Alaska - January 03, 1959
October 2008 - Hawaii - August 21, 1959

If there is a quarter that you do not have yet but you'd like to see what it looks like, you can view pictures of all the state quarter designs.

They also make a state quarter deluxe collector kit that you can purchase. The kit includes a state quarter map, coin holders, coin tubes, a magnifier, and a few booklets.