Learn All about the Alaska 50 State Quarter Coin

��Find out All about the Alaska 50 State Quarter Coin

The Alaska State Quarter is the 49th coin in the 50 State Quarters Plan. The coin depicts a grizzly bear holding a freshly-caught salmon in its strong jaws, as it emerges from a rushing stream. The inscription, "The Excellent Land" appears to the appropriate, beneath the North Star. Alaska was admitted to the Union on Jan. 3, 1959 the year Alaska became a state appears beneath the inscription "Alaska" at the leading of the coin. The other side of the Alaska Quarter bears the very same portrait of George Washington that has appeared on the other State Quarters.


Alaska State Quarter Design and style
The main style element of the grizzly bear catching a salmon is intended to symbolize the organic beauty of Alaska and the abundance of its wildlife. The grizzly represents strength, and the salmon stands for the nutrition that makes such strength achievable. These are beautiful ideas, except for the truth that the grizzly bear is an omnivore. Nonetheless, the grizzly is eminently suitable for the Alaska Quarter design and style, as much more than 98% of the grizzly population in the United States is found in Alaska.

The depiction of the North Star on the Alaska Quarter is a tiny disappointing. The North Star is a grand symbol, the most famous star in the sky to humanity spanning at least three millennia, but most folks will probably overlook the depiction of the Star on the Alaska Quarter. It looks just like any number of other mundane stars that have appeared on U.S. coinage, and I doubt a lot of will realize its significance. It would have been nice if they had given it some rays, or created it larger and significantly less generic-looking. At least it really is there in some modest kind!


Alaska State Trivia
Alaska is a outstanding state for its numerous extremes. Few folks truly appreciate the sheer size of Alaska - it is larger than the 3 biggest contiguous U.S. states combined! One particular of the photographs to the right shows Alaska superimposed over the continental U.S. Here are some other fascinating facts about Alaska:



* The U. Source Link S. purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.two million, about two cents per acre.

* Alaska has practically three,000,000 lakes, some of which seem only seasonally.

* Of the 20 highest mountain peaks in the United States, 17 of them are in Alaska, which includes the tallest (Mt. McKinley, referred to as Denali by Alaskans.)

* Significantly less than 1% of Alaska's land is privately owned.

* The word "Alaska" comes from the Aleutian word "Alyeska," which indicates "The Excellent Land."


* Alaska boasts an impressive 29 volcanoes!

* The total population of Alaska is nicely under 3/4 of a million folks. A 2006 estimate puts the quantity at 670,053 residents.

* Alaska was not explored by Europeans until 1741 and Russia established a colony in Alaska to shield its profitable fur-trading interests.

* Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867 for $7.two million, or two cents per acre, when it could no longer afford to sustain the colony.One particular of the most surprising details about Alaska is that it has the westernmost, northernmost, and easternmost points in the United States! The Aleutian Islands extend farther west than Hawaii. In reality, they extend so far west that they cross the 180th meridian, placing them in the east, which is how Alaska claims the easternmost point in the U.S., as well. As for the northernmost reaches, about a third of Alaska falls north of the Arctic Circle.


Collecting the 50 State Quarters
The�50 State Quarters Program�from The United States Mint ended in 2008. These modern circulating commemorative coins are readily accessible in uncirculated and Proof strikes from your neighborhood coin dealer or on the Net. There are no rare or scarce concerns, so placing with each other a gorgeous hunting collection of 50 State Quarters will be relatively low-cost.


Alaska State Quarter Specifications


* Release Date: August 25, 2008

* Reverse (tails) Side: The Fantastic Land

* Engraver: Charles Vickers

* Common Weight: 5.670g

* Common Diameter: 24.26mm (.955 in)

* Thickness: 1.75 mm

* Edge Kind: Reeded

* Business Strike And Proof Clad Composition: Cupro-Nickel Clad (8.33% Nickel, 91.67% Copper)��

* Proof Strike Silver Composition: Silver Alloy (90% Silver, 10% Copper)

* Philadelphia Mintage: 251,800,000

* Denver Mintage: 254,000,000

* San Francisco Mintage (Proof Clad): two,078,112

* San Francisco Mintage (Proof Silver): 1,192,908