Washington — The United States Mint has received inquiries regarding the “Elvis Presley® 25th Anniversary Tennessee State Quarter Tribute,” now available in the collector’s market.
The colorized quarters are not sponsored or endorsed by the United States Government.
The inquiries appear to stem from recent newspaper advertisements from the International Collectors Society, a commercial business operating in Owings Mills, Maryland.
Consumers should know that the International Collectors Society is a business not affiliated or connected in any way with the United States Mint or the United States Government.
The U.S. Mint receives frequent inquiries from the public concerning its position on the industry practice of superimposing images of prominent public figures on authentic U.S. coins, such as the “Elvis Presley® 25th Anniversary Tennessee State Quarter Tribute,” featured here.
The U.S. Mint does not encourage, endorse or sponsor products that alter the fundamental images depicted on its coins.
A superimposed design is entirely different than the coin’s original image and almost obliterates the coin’s organic design. Altering U.S. Mint coins this way may heighten the concerns of people who regard the images and designs on our Nation’s coinage as sacrosanct.
Indeed, Congress itself mandates by statute the design themes and inscriptions that appear on a particular coin. In this case, the International Collectors Society is superimposing an image of Elvis Presley® on the obverse of a quarter dollar coin that Congress directed the U.S. Mint to produce with a portrait of George Washington for the purpose of commemorating the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of George Washington in 1931.