DES MOINES — As the nation’s children prepare for the new school year, United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore and Iowa Governor Thomas J. Vilsack launched the new Iowa quarter–dollar coin at the State Capitol here, celebrating a “Foundation in Education.”
“This will become our ‘Education Quarter,’ declared Director Fore. “As students head back to school, they will carry in their pockets a reminder that from a one room school house in Iowa, we have created an educated nation.”
The Governor, Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack and Director Fore were joined in the celebration by Lt. Governor Sally J. Pederson and Anita Walker of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. The 34th Army Band of the Iowa Army National Guard and the Isisirettes Drill and Drum Corps provided the musical entertainment, and actor Tom Milligan portrayed renowned artist and Iowa native Grant Wood. Peter the Mint Eagle greeted children in the audience, and each received a free, new Iowa quarter–dollar. Adults participated in a quarter exchange after the ceremony.
The Iowa quarter–dollar is the fourth of 2004, and the 29th in the 50 State Quarters Program. On December 28, 1846, Iowa became the 29th state to be admitted into the Union. The Iowa quarter–dollar design features a one–room schoolhouse with a teacher and students planting a tree, and the inscriptions “Foundation in Education” and “Grant Wood.” The design is based on “Arbor Day,” a painting by Grant Wood, who was born near Anamosa, Iowa.
Iowans have had a commitment to education since the state’s earliest days. When Iowa became a state in 1846, it already had a number of rural country schools in each of its counties. Iowa established its first high school in the 1850s, although high schools generally did not become widespread in the United States until after 1900. Private and public colleges also quickly took root in the new State.
The Iowa quarter–dollar is available in two–roll sets (40 coins per roll), including one roll each from the United States Mint at Philadelphia and Denver, and in bags of 100 and 1,000 coins, at the Mint website at www.usmint.gov. The two–roll sets are $32.00, bags of 100 coins are $35.50, and bags of 1,000 coins $300.00.
For a digital image of the Iowa quarter, visit: http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/index.cfm?action=photo#SQ2004
Satellite Feed of Iowa Quarter Launch: Friday, September 3, 2004 3:15–3:45 p.m. (EDT) AMC 9–Transponder 22