The Story Behind Your State's Quarter

The state’s quarter highlights an image of Helen Keller, who was born in Alabama and was the first blind/deaf person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Her name appears in both English and in Braille. Also included is an Alabama longleaf pine branch with magnolias on the side of the design. The phrase the “Spirit of Courage” underlines the image.

Alaska’s quarter features a grizzly bear emerging from a stream with a salmon in its jaw.

The reverse side of Arizona’s quarter is an image of the Grand Canyon with a Saguaro cactus in the foreground. The state slogan, “Grand Canyon State,” divides the images.

Arkansas’ quarter has an image of rice stalks, a diamond, and a mallard in flight.

The image of naturalist and conservationist John Muir is shown in Yosemite Valley, which he helped make a national park. Also on the quarter is a soaring condor.

The Colorado quarter features the Rocky Mountains and evergreen trees as well as the phrase “Colorful Colorado.”

An image of the Charter Oak Tree is on the coin. The tree is important in Connecticut history because colonists in the 17th century hid the charter — it granted them autonomy — from England’s King James II and the royal governor, who had disapproved of it, in an oak tree.

The quarter commemorates Caesar Rodney’s historic 80-mile horseback ride in 1776 to Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, where he cast the decisive vote for Delaware, which voted for independence from Great Britain.

The coin’s images include a 16th-century Spanish galleon, a space shuttle, and a stand of Sabal palm trees, all shown over the phrase “Gateway to Discovery.”

The Georgia quarter features the peach — it is called the Peach State — a silhouette of the state, oak sprigs, and the state motto, “Wisdom, Justice, Moderation.”

Hawaiian monarch King Kamehameha I, founder and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810, is featured on the coin, and is shown extending his hand toward the eight Hawaiian Islands.

An image of a Peregrine falcon graces the coin, as well as an outline of the state and its motto, “Esto Perpetua” (“May it be Forever).”

The reverse side of the coin highlights an image of a young Abraham Lincoln (Illinois’ slogan is “Land of Lincoln”) within an outline of the state, a farm scene, and the Chicago skyline.

On the reverse side of the coin is an image of a racecar superimposed on an outline of the state, a nod to the Indianapolis 500 race with the phrase “Crossroads of America.” Nineteen stars is a reference to the fact that Indiana was the 19th state admitted into the Union.

Iowa’s design is based on “Arbor Day” a painting depicting a schoolhouse in Cedar Rapids as it might have looked in the 1890s by noted American artist Grant Wood (also famous for “American Gothic”), who was born near Anamosa, Iowa. Also included is the inscription “Foundation in Education.”

The Kansas coin highlights an image of a buffalo and a sunflower, which is the state flower.

On the reverse of the Kentucky quarter is an 19th-century mansion, Federal Hill, a thoroughbred racehorse — a reference to the state’s horse-racing legacy, and the phrase “My Old Kentucky Home.”

The coin features an image of the state bird, the pelican, a trumpet with musical notes that recognizes the musical genre jazz; and the outline of the Louisiana Purchase territory, bought from France in 1803.

The coin incorporates an image of the Pemaquid Point Light — the present lighthouse was built in 1835 — above a granite coast and a seabound schooner.

The coin highlights the Maryland Statehouse, which is surrounded by white oak leaf clusters. The white oak is the state tree of Maryland. The quarter also includes the state nickname “The Old Line State.”

The Massachusetts quarter features an outline of the state and the likeness of the Minuteman of the American Revolution, who fought the British in the first two battles of the American Revolutionary War. The Massachusetts nickname, “The Bay State,” is on the reverse side of the coin.

The quarter shows an outline of Michigan and the Great Lakes and its nickname, “The Great Lakes State.”

Water is the theme on the Minnesota coin: a tree-lined lake with people fishing, a loon on the water, and the state nickname, “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”

The Mississippi quarter features the blossoms and leaves of the state flower, the magnolia. Mississippi is known as “The Magnolia State.”

The Missouri quarter highlights the return of explorers Lewis and Clark to St. Louis, with the Gateway Arch in the background and the phrase “Corps of Discovery.”

The Montana “Big Sky Country” coin features the skull of the bison, an animal closely associated with the state.

Nebraska’s frontier heritage is recognized on the quarter with a depiction of an ox-drawn covered wagon carrying pioneers and Chimney Rock, a landmark for travelers, in the background.

The coin depicts three wild stallions, the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains, the sun, with the state nickname “The Silver State.”

The coin shows the singular rock formation most associated with New Hampshire, The Old Man of the Mountain (it collapsed in 2003), as well as the state motto, “Live Free or Die.”

The New Jersey quarter shows General George Washington crossing the Delaware River, en route to defeating the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton in 1776, an image from the famous painting by Emanuel Leutze, and the slogan “Crossroads of the Revolution.”

The reverse of New Mexico’s quarter features a Zia sun symbol over a topographical outline of the state of New Mexico, whose nickname “Land of Enchantment” is on the coin. The flag of New Mexico consists of a red sun symbol of the Zia Pueblo people.

The Empire State’s quarter’s theme is “Gateway to Freedom” and holds an image of the Statue of Liberty, the state’s outline, and 11 stars that indicate New York was the 11th state admitted into the Union.

The North Carolina quarter pays homage to the first human-controlled flight by the Wright Brothers that took place at Kill Devil Hills, N.C., in 1903.

The coin representing North Dakota shows grazing bison, rugged buttes and canyons from the Badlands area, and the sun.

The Ohio coin’s theme is “Birthplace of Aviation Pioneers.” Small wonder since the state produced the Wright Brothers and first moon walker Neil Armstrong who are acknowledged on the state outline on the quarter.

The reverse side of the Oklahoma quarter depicts an image of the Scissortail Flycatcher, the state bird, in flight over soaring over the state wildflower, the Indian Blanket, and wildflowers.

The natural beauty of Oregon is shown on its quarter, with an image of a section of Crater Lake, a dormant volcano considered one of Oregon’s seven wonders.

The Pennsylvania coin features the statue, Commonwealth, and also an outline of the state, its motto, “Virtue, Liberty, Independence,” and a keystone. Pennsylvania is known as “The Keystone State.”

“The Ocean State’s” coin features an image of a sailboat gliding through Narragansett Bay, with a depiction of the Pell Bridge in the background.

Besides the state outline, three symbols are featured on the South Carolina quarter — the Palmetto tree, the Carolina wren, the Yellow Jessamine — as well as its nickname “The Palmetto State” and a star indicating the state capital, Columbia.

The South Dakota quarter features the state bird, the Chinese ring-necked pheasant, flying over Mount Rushmore. Heads of wheat border the image.

With a nod to its country musical legacy, the Tennessee quarter shows the instruments the fiddle, the trumpet, and the guitar and a songbook over the phrase “Musical Heritage.”

The quarter of Texas includes the inscription “The Lone Star State,” with a star superimposed on the state outline and a lariat that recognizes the state’s cattle and cowboy history.

The reverse side of the Utah quarter, themed “Crossroads of the West,” salutes the meeting of the two locomotives of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads symbolically connecting the continental United States in 1869 with the golden spike.

The image on the Vermont quarter highlights Camel’s Hump Mountain and maple trees with sap buckets and includes the phrase “Freedom and Unity.”

The three ships that brought the first European settlers to Virginia in 1607 — Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery — are depicted on the quarter.

A salmon surging out of the stream in front of Mount Rainier is featured on Washington’s quarter, which also includes the state nickname “The Evergreen State.”

West Virginia’s coin highlights the beauty of the New River and the New River Gorge Bridge.

Wisconsin’s quarter, themed “Forward,” pays tribute to the state’s agricultural character with a cow’s head, a round of cheese, and an ear of corn.

Wyoming’s cowboy heritage is depicted on its quarter with an image of a bucking horse and rider as well as its nickname “The Equality State.” Wyoming was the first U.S. state to grant women the right to vote, in 1869.