50 State Quarters Program
The Sunshine State Quarter 

 The second State Quarter of 2004, and the 27th quarter in the 50 State Quarters Program, honors Florida, "The Sunshine State."

 On April 7, 2004, Florida Governor Jeb Bush officially unveiled the coin at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex. 

 The quarter's design highlights Florida's past with a  16th-century Spanish galleon, and Florida's future with  a space shuttle. The design also includes a strip of land with Sabal palm trees, and the inscription Gateway to Discovery. 

 On Easter in 1513, while searching for the legendary Fountain of Youth, Ponce de Leon named the region  Pascua Florida, meaning "Flowery Easter." In 1539, Hernando   de Soto  and other explorers continued the exploration of the New World through the region.

Florida, home to the Kennedy Space Center, has been the starting point for most of the modern era's most significant scientific space expeditions – from Man's first moon landing to the Voyager probe currently exploring deep space outside our solar system.

 The State Quarters Program celebrates five states each year in the order in which 
they entered into the Union. Earlier this year, Michigan was honored. State Quarters honoring Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin will also be issued this year.