Collector’s
Journal
Volume 12, Issue 4
A Service of Collectors Alliance
Georgia Commemorative Quarter
Fourth in the 50 State
Quarters Collection
The fourth Quarter Dollar in the U.S. Mint’s historic
“50 States” series honors Georgia, the fourth state to
ratify the Constitution. It did so on January 2, 1788,
joining Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey as
one of the founding states of the United States of
America.
The Georgia Quarter Dollar was issued in 1999.
Each year from 1999 through 2008, five different
states will be honored on five different commemorative Quarter Dollars. The coins will be released in the
order in which the states joined the Union, and each
coin’s reverse will feature a one-time-only design that
was selected by the state. It is representative of the
state’s history and culture.
In 1540, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto claimed
Georgia on behalf of Spain. He was searching for the
legendary wealth which many people believed could
be found in the New World.
However, Europeans did not establish permanent
settlements in Georgia until 1733. England’s King
George II granted a charter to a group led by James
Oglethorpe, and in February 1733, Oglethorpe and
about 120 others founded the Georgia colony at
Savannah. The colony was named in honor of King
George II and was set up as a haven for the poor, the
unemployed, and persecuted Protestants from
Germany and Austria.
The Spanish also claimed Georgia, so the colonists
were caught in the middle of a dispute that erupted
into a war between the English and Spanish in 1739.
Oglethorpe himself led the English troops to victory
at the Battle of Bloody Marsh in 1742.
armory from the English in 1775 and sending the
arms to the Continental Army. Georgians also liberated Augusta and forced the British from Savannah.
During the Civil War, Georgia joined the Confederate
States of America but was readmitted to the Union
on July 15, 1870.
The Georgia commemorative Quarter design was
selected by Governor Roy E. Barnes and the Georgia
Council for the Arts. The central design is a peach, a
fruit long associated with the state, with an outline
of the state border.
Live oak sprigs, symbolic of the state tree, surround
the design. Draped across the top of the design is a
banner bearing the state motto, “Wisdom, Justice,
Moderation.”
The Georgia 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.
Coins commemorating Delaware, Pennsylvania, and
New Jersey have already been issued; the final state
to be honored in 1999 will be Connecticut.
Georgia played an important role in the
Revolutionary War, first seizing the Savannah
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