2008: The Merciful End of The State Quarter

In 1999, I was traipsing somewhat aimlessly through my early college years, playing in rock and roll bands, working the register at a music store, and writing heartfelt vignettes about my blissful suburban childhood. And, I was excited about quarters.

The 50 State Quarters Program had just launched – nay, galloped – into the American consciousness with the Paul Revere-esque Delaware edition, which depicted the brave, ailing Caesar Rodney, blazing through the night en route to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia to declare the nation’s independence.

My dad had long since bequeathed to me his collection of bicentennial quarters, which are forever locked in a square, glass-block coin bank. Now, instead of keeping an eye out for the rarely-passed-on 1976 favorite, I would have nine years’ worth of new quarters to collect. At first I carefully dropped the new state quarters into the glass bank, letting the Massachusetts Minuteman and the Statue of Liberty mingle with the stoic Continental drummer of the 1976 edition.

Back then I would trade my own regular quarters for the new State quarters. Now, on the cusp of 2008, the grand finale year for the State Quarter project, I’m sick of the whole thing. Continue reading 2008: The Merciful End of The State Quarter