Commemorative State Quarter
for Tennessee

Coin Issued: January 2, 2002 - the 1st coin released in 2002

Statehood: June 1, 1796 - the 16th State

Inscriptions: "Tennessee 1796", "Musical Heritage"

Description: To mark Tennessee's musical heritage, the coin contains a guitar to the left, a songbook in the middle, a fiddle to the right and a trumpet above the songbook. Below the instruments is a banner bearing the inscription "Musical Heritage".

There are also three stars above the instruments, which symbolizes West, Central and East Tennessee.

Not only do the stars symbolize the three regions, but the three instruments represent the distinct musical styles of those regions:

- The fiddle represents the Appalachian music of East Tennessee

- The trumpet represents the Blues of West Tennessee

- The guitar represents the Country music of Central Tennessee

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 Tennessee Quarter:

Obverse Inscriptions:

Coin Specifications:

Number of Tennessee Quarters Minted:

America-the-Beautiful Quarter Series:

The quarter for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (located south of Knoxville, TN) was issued in 2014, the first coin issued in 2014 and the 21st coin (of 56) in the America-the-Beautiful Quarter series.

The following quarters were issued in 2014: Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee), Shenandoah National Park (Virginia), Arches National Park (Utah), Great Sand Dunes National Park (Colorado) & Everglades National Park (Florida).

The quarter for the Blue Ridge Parkway (which extends from Front Royal, VA in the north, through North Carolina to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee) was issued in 2015. It was the third coin issued in 2015 and the 28th coin (of 56) in the America-the-Beautiful Quarter series.

The following quarters was issued in 2015: Homestead National Monument of America (Nebraska), Kisatchie National Forest (Louisiana), Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia, North Carolina & Tennessee), Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge (Delaware) & Saratoga National Historical Park (New York).