28th in State Quarters Program

by Alfredo Alvarez
Texana Editor

Austin, TX - In formal Texas style, the state's official quarter was released on June 10, 2004 at a ceremony at the Bob Bullock State History Museum. During the event in the capitol city, Gov. Rick Perry said the Lone Star is one of the most identifiable symbols of Texas. He added that the coin's design reflects the independent spirit of Texans.

According to the Texas Numismatic Association, over 2,700 designs were submitted for the commemorative coin. The state quarter series has been the most popular coin program in U.S. history and has sparked a renewed interest in coin collecting.

The Texas quarter is the third quarter of 2004, and the 28th in the 50 State Quarters Program. On December 29, 1845, Texas became the 28th state to be admitted into the Union. The quarter's reverse design incorporates an outline of the State with a star superimposed on the outline and the inscription, "The Lone Star State." The lariat encircling the design is symbolic of the cattle and cowboy history of Texas, as well as the frontier spirit that tamed the land.

The 10-year program, launched in 1999, was designed as an educational campaign that would help people learn about state history. Lesson plans were developed to help teachers use the coins in the classroom. The educational Web site for the U.S. Mint has recorded 1.5 million downloads.

Each coin gets a 10-week run at the Mint in the order that its state entered the Union. The U.S. Mint predicts about 480 million Texas quarters to be minted.

The number of quarters minted is based on current economic forecasts. If forecasts call for more money to be coined, then smaller states might end up with a larger run then heavy hitters like Texas. For example, Virginia received nearly 1.6 billion quarters minted because the coin came out during the boom of 2000.

Texas comes from the Indian word "tejas," meaning friends or allies. Appropriately Texas's motto is "Friendship." Probably the two most recognized symbols of Texas are its unique shape and the lone star that is represented on the State flag. The Texas flag design was approved in 1839 to symbolize the Republic of Texas and was adopted as the State flag in 1845.

The simple design of a lone star and three bold stripes of red, white and blue represent bravery, purity and loyalty, respectively. Texas is the only state to have had six different flags fly over its land -- Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederate States of America and the United States of America.

On August 14, 2000, Governor George W. Bush appointed the 15-member Texas Quarter Dollar Coin Advisory Committee. The Committee authorized the Texas Numismatic Association to conduct a statewide design contest on its behalf. Nearly 2,600 candidate design concepts were submitted in response to a statewide contest. From those design concepts, 17 finalists were selected by the Texas Numismatic Association and presented to the Texas Quarter Dollar Coin Advisory Committee for review.

The Committee further narrowed the submissions to the five designs that were most representative and emblematic of the State. Governor Rick Perry submitted the preferred design of the outline of Texas beneath the Lone Star and encircled by a lariat, which was approved by the Secretary of the Treasury on August 26, 2003.