The State Quarters Program
Colorado & North Dakota Quarters Now in Circulation
 

`

The third and fourth state quarters of 2006 are now in circulation, and  honor the states of Colorad and North Dakota.

The Colorado quarter depicts a sweeping view of the state's rugged Rocky Mountains with evergreen trees and a banner carrying the inscription Colorful Colorado. The coin also bears the inscriptions Colorado and 1876, which is the year that the state was admitted to the Union.

 Colorado's Rocky Mountains are home to some of the Nation's most majestic natural wonders. Among these, rising approximately 10,000 feet from the valley floor in Northwest Colorado, Grand Mesa is the largest flat-top mountain in the world, and is home to more than 200 lakes and many miles of scenic hiking trails. 

 The four other designs for the Colorado quarter considered during the final selection process were Mesa Verde, featuring Mesa Verde National Park with cliff dwellings; 10th Mountain Division Birthplace, depicting a soldier/skier of the famed United States Army Division that originated in Colorado; The Centennial State, which features a stylized letter "C" entwined with a mountain columbine flower; and the Rocky Mountains and Pikes Peak, featuring the gold rush slogan "Pikes Peak or Bust" and a prospector's pick and shovel. 

 The North Dakota quarter features  a pair of grazing American bison in the foreground with a sunset view of the rugged buttes and canyons that help define the state's Badlands region in the background. The design includes the inscription 1889, the year North Dakota became the 39th state. 

 Herds of American Bison thundered across the Badlands through the 1860s. The area, now known as Theodore Roosevelt National Park, is home to more than 400 wild buffalo, an animal once on the brink of extinction. 

 Two other designs which were considered for the North Dakota quarter were "Agriculture" which included an aerial view of a modern farm with bountiful fields under an open sky; and "Landscape" which  featured migrating waterfowl and the sun breaking through clouds over a vast, sweeping landscape scene.

 Quarters honoring Nevada and Nebraska were issued earlier this year. The last quarter of 2006 will honor South Dakota.