Collector’s
Journal
Volume 12, Issue 5
A Service of Collectors Alliance
Connecticut Commemorative Quarter
Fifth in the 50 State
Quarters Collection
The Connecticut Quarter completes the first year in
the U.S. Mint’s historic “50 State Quarters” program.
It is the fifth and final State Quarter to be issued in
1999. Each year until 2008, five different states will
be honored in the order in which they ratified the
Constitution or joined the Union.
Connecticut became the fifth state when it ratified the
Constitution on January 9, 1788. Previous states
were Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
Georgia.
The first permanent European settlements in
Connecticut were in 1633 when the Dutch built a
trading fort and English colonists moved from
Plymouth in neighboring Massachusetts. Settlers in
the towns of Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford
formed their own set of laws, the Fundamental Orders
of Connecticut, in 1639. They are the first written
constitution and gave voters the right to elect government officials.
During the Revolutionary War, Connecticut enthusiastically embraced the cause of independence and
Jonathan Trumbull, the English governor, actually
joined the colonists in their fight for freedom.
The Connecticut Quarter features a magnificent
image of the Charter Oak, an important symbol in
colonial American’s quest for freedom from the
British.
In 1662, Governor John Winthrop obtained a Charter
from England’s King Charles II recognizing the
boundaries of Connecticut (which actually extended
to the Pacific Ocean!) and establishing an independent, self-reliant system of colonial government.
Twenty-five years later in 1687, the English tried to
revoke the Charter. On October 31, 1687, Sir
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Edmund Andros, an English representative for King
James II, demanded the surrender of Connecticut’s
Charter.
During the negotiations in Hartford, the candles that
lit the dark room mysteriously went out. The Charter
had been on the table between the opposing parties but when the candles were re-lit the Connecticut
Charter was gone.
According to legend, Captain Joseph Wadsworth had
spirited the Charter away and hidden it in a place
where nobody could find it - inside a secret hollow in
a majestic white oak on the property of the Wyllys
family. As a result, Connecticut’s Charter was preserved and the colony retained its unique form of
independent government.
The tree became known as the Charter Oak. It finally
fell during a great storm on August 21, 1856.
The historic Connecticut Quarter will be struck in
Uncirculated condition at both the Philadelphia and
Denver mints. The mint marks can be found to the
right of George Washington’s portrait on the obverse:
the small “P” refers to the Philadelphia Mint, while the
small “D” refers to the Denver Mint.
States to be honored in the second year of the program in 2000 are Massachusetts, Maryland, South
Carolina, New Hampshire, and Virginia.
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