Presenting...the very first exhibit of Series 2!

Starting in 1999 and ending in 2008, the U.S. Mint released a set of quarters to represent the fifty states. Though many considered the program controversial, President Clinton signed the act into law in 1997. The release of the quarters was organized in Constitutional order—that is, Delaware was the first to ratify the Constitution in 1787, and Hawaii was the last in 1959.

1999:                  Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut,

2000:                 Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia

2001:                  New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Kentucky,

2002:                 Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi

2003:                 Illinois, Alabama, Maine, Missouri, Arkansas

2004:                 Michigan, Florida, Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin

2005:                  California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, West Virginia

2006:                  Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, North & South Dakota

2007:                 Montana, Washington State, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah

2008:                 Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii

I've only listed the original quarters for the 50 states here, though the U.S. Mint did put out quarters for Washington, DC and US territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam starting in 2009. My dad got this set as a Christmas present from Home Shopping Network; they are uncirculated quarters, plated in 24-carat gold. I only post this set because it's the best-looking example we have at home. I do have a fill-in map of 2000 vintage, but it looks really ratty after years of digging gouges into the cardboard to put the quarters in.

So why is it significant as a Millennium Item? I can easily see the State Quarters as a celebration of history. America itself is one of the world's younger nations, and it doesn't have quite the same stake in the Millennium Celebration that, say, Great Britain did, but the founding of America is still one of the most historic events since the year 1000. The idea of releasing the quarters by date of admission into the Union is a neat gimmick, too, as it combines a lesson in social studies with a "collect 'em all!" marketing gimmick.

For the most part, it worked, but the distribution of quarters from state to state was...uneven. It got to the point where I claimed that you could only find the quarter of your home state outside of your home state. (When the Illinois quarter first came out, I was only able to find it while on vacation in Florida! Weird, that.)

May 5, 1999: "A series of vicious tornadoes in the Midwest have left at least 44 people dead and hundreds more injured in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Arkansas."

May 5, 2000: Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu backs online music retailer CDNow.