Coin Issued: October 15, 2002 - the 5th coin released in 2002

Statehood: December 10, 1817 - the 20th State

Inscriptions: "Mississippi 1817", "The Magnolia State"

Description: The coin depicts two Magnolia blossoms. To the upper left is the inscription "The Magnolia State".

The Magnolia is the State Flower of Mississippi, which is native to the Southeastern United States and has large white flowers (up to 15-inches across).

At the bottom of the coin is the issue date (2002) 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 Donna Weaver (search the coin for the engraver's initials: 'dw').

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 Mississippi Quarter:

Obverse Inscriptions:

Coin Specifications:

Number of Mississippi Quarters Minted:

America-the-Beautiful Quarter Series:

The quarter for the Vicksburg National Military Park (located at Vicksburg, MS) was issued in 2011, the fourth coin issued in 2011 and the 9th coin (of 56) in the America-the-Beautiful Quarter series.

The following quarters were issued in 2011: Gettysburg National Military Park (Pennsylvania), Glacier National Park (Montana), Olympic National Park (Washington), Vicksburg National Military Park (Mississippi) & Chickasaw National Recreation Area (Oklahoma).