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UNITED STATES MINT UNVEILS ILLINOIS QUARTER
Popular
50 State Quarters Program Honors 'Prairie State'
United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore
joined First Lady Lura Lynn Ryan today at the James R. Thompson Center to
unveil the Illinois State quarter,
the 21st in the 50 State Quarters® Program.
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Speaker of the United States House of Representatives J. Dennis Hastert
signs an image of his home state's new quarter.
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"The Illinois quarter
sends a powerful message," said Director Fore. "It highlights
how the state's agricultural traditions and business and financial climate
- all the things that make Illinois a
major hub of international commerce - rest on Lincoln's
legacy of integrity and hard work."
Illinois was admitted
into the Union on Dec.
3, 1818, becoming the 21st state. The Illinois quarter
design depicts a young Abraham Lincoln within the outline of the state.
A farm scene and the Chicago skyline
appear on opposite sides of the outline. The design also contains 21
stars and bears the inscriptions "21st State/Century" and "Land Of Lincoln."
The Illinois state quarter
is the third U.S. coin
to feature Lincoln but the
first to feature him as a young man. The other two are the current circulating
one-cent coin and a commemorative Illinois Centennial Half Dollar of
1918. The image of young Lincoln featured
on the quarter is based on a sculpture by Avard Fairbanks
titled "The Resolute Lincoln."
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United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore
shares a laugh with actor/writer Harold Ramis,
Master of Ceremonies at the Illinois Quarter Launch in Chicago, Illinois.
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Governor George Ryan created the Governor's Classroom Contest to solicit
ideas from school children about the coin's design. The Governor's office
received more than 6,000 submissions, of which nearly 5,700 were from
students. A 14-member committee was convened to review the submissions,
and to suggest three to five concepts to be forwarded to the United States
Mint.
The United States Mint officially released the Illinois quarter
to the Federal Reserve Bank on January
2, 2003.
Monday's launch ceremony featured remarks from noted Illinoisans, including
actor/screenwriter Harold Ramis, State Treasurer
Judy Baar Topinka,
State Historian Dr. Tom Schwartz and State FFA President Jay Kelley.
The event also included music from the Lake Bluff Middle School Choir
and rising Springfield singing
star Clayton Ann Joyner, age 12.
50 State Quarters products, including the popular collectible proof
sets featuring the five state quarters of each year, are available on
the website, www.usmint.gov, and by calling 1-800-USA-MINT.
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