RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >>  Quarter for CaliforniaQuarters

Commemorative Quarter
for California (CA)


The Commemorative State Quarter for California

Coin Issued: January 31, 2005 - the 1st coin released in 2005

Statehood: September 9, 1850 - the 31st State

Inscriptions: "California 1850", "Yosemite Valley"

Description: The Naturalist John Muir overlooking Yosemite Valley and Half Dome, with a California Condor in flight. Below Half Dome is the inscription "Yosemite Valley". To the left of John Muir is the inscription "John Muir".

In 1868, John Muir made his home in Yosemite Valley. He devoted his life to conservation, publishing 10 books and over 300 articles on Naturalism and Conservation. In the early 1890's, John Muir helped to form the Sierra Club. He served as the Sierra Club's President until his death in 1914.

To protect Yosemite, Congress established Yosemite National Park in 1890.

As the result of a successful breeding program, the nearly extinct California Condor has been re-introduced to rural central California. To help protect against catastrophic loss, a colony of Condors has been established at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon (in northwest Arizona).

At the bottom of the coin is the issue date (2005) 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 Don Everhart (search the coin for the engraver's initials: 'de').

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 California Quarter:

California
John Muir
Yosemite Valley
1850
2005
E. Pluribus Unum

Obverse Inscriptions:

United States of America
Liberty
In God We Trust
Quarter Dollar

Coin Specifications:

Weight:  0.182 troy ounce [5.670 g]
Diameter:  0.955 in [24.26 mm]
Thickness:  0.069 in [1.75 mm]
Edge:  Reeded with 119 reeds.
Composition:  Cupro-Nickel Clad (91.67% Copper, 8.33% Nickel)

Number of California Quarters Minted:

Denver (D):  263,200,000
Philadelphia (P):  257,200,000
 
Total:  520,400,000

America-the-Beautiful Quarter Series

The quarter for Yosemite National Park (located in central California) was issued in 2010 and the third coin (of 56) in the America-the-Beautiful Quarter series.

The following quarters were issued in 2010: Hot Springs National Park (Arkansas), Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming), Yosemite National Park (California), Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona) & the Mount Hood National Forest (Oregon).

Quarters Issued in 2005


California
(CA)

Minnesota
(MN)

Oregon
(OR)

Kansas
(KS)
West
Virginia
(WV)
 
Details for the California Commemorative Quarter Details for the Minnesota Commemorative Quarter Details for the Oregon Commemorative Quarter Details for the Kansas Commemorative Quarter Details for the West Virginia Commemorative Quarter

Commemorative Quarters by State

Commemorative Quarters by Year of Issue

About California

Find a Community within California

The United States Mint






 

Copyright 2023
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 05 Dec 2023