This year, the United States Mint will mint and issue six quarters  in honor of the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

 The first quarter of 2009 honors the District of Columbia. The coin's design features composer and musician Duke Ellington seated at a grand piano, and the district's motto, Justice for All.

 The District of Columbia, created in 1790, became the Nation's capital on December 1, 1800. The 10-square-mile site, originally part of Maryland and Virginia, was chosen personally by President George Washington to fulfill the need for a new Federal district that would not be part of any state.

 Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was born in Washington, D.C., in 1899, and started piano lessons at the age of seven. He lived in Washington until 1923, when he moved to New York City. He began performing professionally at the age of 17, and once he arrived in New York, started playing in Broadway nightclubs and eventually led his own band. Ellington made hundreds of recordings -- some with John Coltrane, Billy Strayhorn, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald – making him famous worldwide. Throughout his 50-year career, he returned often to Washington to perform, frequently staying at the Whitelaw Hotel located in his boyhood neighborhood in Washington.