Numismaticism Update: So Where's My Guam Quarter, Mint Bitches?!

I've been a devoted collector of all the fine, fine, superfine commemorative state quarters, issued five a year for 10 years from 1999-2008, especially up through the 2005 quarters when anybody--school kids, pancake-house artists, lunatics--could still submit design proposals. From 2006 on it looks as if the Mint decided they'd had enough, because after that the only designs considered were the ones the Mint came up with themselves. No more 26 amateur designs, like Florida! (And even then, look what they ended up with.)  I have written about the state quarters here on Beware of the Blog—more than once!—and just when I thought 2008 was the end of it, the Mint announced that 5 MORE special quarters would be released in 2009: THE COMMEMORATIVE QUARTERS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND UNITED STATES TERRITORIES! Guam! American Samoa! Puerto Rico! THE NORTHERN EFFIN' MARIANA ISLANDS! 

I was SO ready for those quarters, even though the District of Columbia inexplicably chose Duke Ellington over Frederick Douglass for theirs. Sure, Duke Ellington was a great musician, but, you know ... Frederick Douglass. Plus, they didn't even consider Marvin Gaye or Marion Barry. But it's not like I've actually seen a District of Columbia quarter. You know how, with the state quarters, every few months  you'd get a new one: "Oh, look! Arkansas! The 'Moses-in-the-bullrushes-with-an-Egyptian-egret-and-a-giant-diamond' state!" But now it's mid-October and I haven't seen a 2009 quarter all year!  So the first one was supposed to be D.C., and one of our WFMU Listeners has posted and said he got one at his sister's house in New Jersey, so maybe they are out there, somewhere. And the second one was supposed to be Puerto Rico—and it appears they haven't decided on their design yet. Is that what's holding up the show? Puerto Rico? Because Guam is all designed and ready to go, and it is super awesome. It features both the latte and the flying proa! Even though half the time I get them mixed up and think it's the proa and the flying latte! Either way, I want my Guam quarter, dammit! 

I really feel that the United State Mint has let me down on this. It made me reconsider the Ron  Paul dollar—the second-most popular currency in the United States!—and I was all ready to order some right now, but then I went to the website and it says, "We are Not Accepting any New Orders Until After the Trial." So I guess that's out. But I am getting pretty tired of waiting for the U.S. Mint (Home of the first-most popular currency in the United States!) to get the 2009 territorial quarters in circulation. After all, if the official agencies of our government are going to start acting like infomercial advertisers with all these weird "collectibles" (the Postal Service has been selling licensed-character crap for over a decade, for instance--some of which I was responsible for, I just remembered, but it wasn't my fault, they paid me to do it)--anyway, then they'd better learn to ship the product on schedule. No matter what Puerto Rico does.

Comments

[nintendo ds zubehor]

Thanks for sharing it with us. It will be a useful one to clear the doubts about the system and understand it.

[automat diner]

I gave my granny a p.r. and a d.c. she has my only proof that they are out there. Go to the laundromat or car wash and put twenty after twenty in the change machine until you score

[l]

we got a couple of the Puerto Rico quarters - here's the design that apparently took forever to come up with: Fort San Cristobal, a flower & (if my dollar store reading glasses ain't lyin') the motto "Isla del Encante".
good surf down there,bro, why not have that, Rosie Perez & some Bacardi on the quarter, knowhatimsayin

[Steve Barton]

Where are my Lincoln Bicentennial pennies? I've got a brochure listing 3 or 4 new reverse designs for pennies but I've never seen 'em.

[Ralphine]

I still have a sheet of Elvis Presley stamps.

[EH]

The Northern Marianas one should have Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay on it.

[ubermensch]

I've got every 2009 quarter, and have received one new 2009 Lincoln cent in change (got the rest in Proof set).

Here's an idea: ask your bank...

[SIV]

Putting the flying proa on a quarter is really cool.That was the fastest boat type in the world until right at the end of the 19th century.

[endwar]

Every 6 weeks or so my dad would go to the credit union and ask for the new quarter and he would pick up a few for me, my mother, and her sister, who lived with us until they died. When the presidential dollar coins came out, you could ask for those as well and try to keep up with them (does anyone else think the dollar coins look sort of like arcade tokens?).

But this year the credit union says they don't get regular shipments of the new coins, so there's no point asking for them, thus you have to either get them in change or order from the US mint. So far i got the DC and Puerto Rico quarters.
I can still ask for dollar coins, though. The credit union also doesn't stock the new pennies, though so far i've managed to get three of the four designs in change (one today, in fact).

You can go to the US mint web site (usmint(dot)gov) and look under "Coins and Medals" you can see the designs for various coins.

Apparently starting in 2010 they're starting the "America the Beautiful Quarters" program, commemorating various national parks. I guess they can't get enough of that collector excitement. Whatever.

Meanwhile, has anyone seen the Native American Dollar coins? There's supposed to be one per year in addition to the presidential coins. And don't forget the First Spouse Gold Coins. For Presidents who didn't have a living wife during their administration, they use some image of Liberty as a placeholder (you'd think for Thomas Jefferson they should have put on Sally Hemings, though.) Not that anyone spends $10 gold pieces.

One more note, I wonder if, as in the Great Depression, mintages are down?

endwar