The Florida State Quarter was the 27th coin in the 50 State Quarters® program, released in 2004. The design features a Spanish galleon, sabal palms, and the Space Shuttle. The program aimed to honor each state with five different quarters produced each year over a 10-year period. The winning design was submitted by Ralph Butler, and the engraver was T. James Farrell.
The Florida State Quarter was the 27th coin released in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® program. It was made available to the public on March 29, 2004. During a period of approximately 10 weeks, the Denver and Philadelphia mints produced 241,600,000 and 240,200,000 quarters, respectively. The order of appearance of the coin in the series is derived from the fact that Florida was the 27th state to be admitted to the Union.
This Florida State Quarter release date aligned with the intent and goals of the overall program goals. The 50 State Quarters® program was the result of a federal law – The 50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act – approved by the United States Congress in 1997. The program was launched in 1999 and authorized the design and production of coins intended to honor each state. Five different state quarters were produced each year over a 10-year period. Production dates were established which allowed for release each quarter in the respective official state order or state constitution ratification.
The obverse, or obverse, of this quarter – as is true of all coins in the program – features an engraving of George Washington. The words on that side of the coin are “In God We Trust”, “United States of America”, “Liberty” and “Quarter Dollar”. The reverse of the coin features the specific design commemorating Florida. These engravings consist of a Spanish galleon, sabal palms and the Space Shuttle. The slogans found on the back of the quarter are “E Pluribus Unum” and “Gateway to Discovery.”
Depictions on the back of the Florida state quarter represent historic milestones. The galleon is meant to recognize the Spanish explorers Ponce de León and Hernando DeSoto. Both men explored the state in the 1500s, with the former naming it Pascua Florida, meaning “Easter in Bloom.” The space shuttle image pays homage to Cape Kennedy, the starting point not only for all shuttle flights, but also for the manned capsules used in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. The Sabal palm was designated the state tree of Florida in 1953.
The person who submitted the winning design for the Florida state quarter was Ralph Butler; the engraver was T. James Farrell. The Florida state quarter weighs 0.2 ounces (about 5.7 g) and is about 1 inch in diameter (about 24.3 mm). The thickness of the coin is 0.07 inch (about 1.8 mm). The composition of the quarter is 91.67 percent copper and 8.33 percent nickel.
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