Commemorative State Quarter
for Alaska

Coin Issued: August 25, 2008 - the 4th coin released in 2008

Statehood: January 3, 1959 - the 49th State

Inscriptions: "Alaska 1959", "The Great Land"

Description: A Grizzly bear standing in a river, holding a Salmon in it's mouth. The North Star is placed above and to the right of the bear.

At the bottom of the coin is the issue date (2008) and the motto "E Pluribus Unum". The motto is Latin for "Out of Many, One", recognizing that out of the many colonies (or states) emerged a single nation.

Engravers: The Reverse design (the tail or State-side of the Quarter) was created by Charles Vickers (search the quarter for the engraver's initials: 'clv').

The original Observe design (the front or Washington-side of the Quarter) was created by John Flanagan and first appeared in 1932. For the 50 State Quarters series, Flanagan's design was modified by William Cousins: the portrait of Washington was slightly reduced to accomodate the moving of the legends from the Reverse to the Obverse.

Reverse Inscriptions for the Alaska Quarter:

Obverse Inscriptions:

Coin Specifications:

Number of Alaska Quarters Minted:

America-the-Beautiful Quarter Series:

The quarter for Denali National Park (located between Anchorage & Fairbanks) was issued in 2012, the last coin issued in 2012 and the 15th coin (of 56) in the America-the-Beautiful Quarter series.

The following quarters were issued in 2012: El Yunque National Forest (Puerto Rico), Chaco Culture National Historical Park (New Mexico), Acadia National Park (Maine), Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park (Hawaii) & Denali National Park (Alaska).