DC & US Territories Quarters 2009

The 50 State Quarters ended with Hawaii in 2008, which left out the District of Columbia and the five territories. Section 622 of Public Law 110-161, the omnibus spending law signed on December 26, 2007, added one more year. Each 2009 quarter honors one of them, and the law fixed the order of release at equal intervals through the year.

The rules followed the state program. The Treasury Secretary chose each design after consulting the jurisdiction's chief executive and the Commission of Fine Arts, and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee reviewed them. Portraits of a person's head and shoulders, living people and frivolous designs were barred. Under the Mint's process, each jurisdiction sent written concepts, Mint artists drew candidate designs, and the jurisdiction picked its favorite before the Secretary approved it.

The District's choice drew a dispute. Two of its three proposals said "Taxation Without Representation," and Wikipedia reports that the Mint rejected the phrase as controversial. The final coin uses JUSTICE FOR ALL, the District's motto in English.

The state coins are covered on our 50 State Quarters page. In 2010 the America the Beautiful quarters began.

District of Columbia

Duke Ellington sits at a piano, with his name and JUSTICE FOR ALL. Joel Iskowitz designed it and Don Everhart sculpted it. Released January 26, 2009.

Puerto Rico

A garita, the old sentry box of San Juan, looks out to sea beside a hibiscus, with ISLA DEL ENCANTO (Island of Enchantment). Joseph Menna designed and sculpted it. Wikipedia calls it the first U.S. coin inscribed in Spanish. Released March 30.

Guam

An outline of the island, a latte stone and a flying proa, a local sailing canoe, with GUAHAN I TANÓ MANCHAMORRO (Guam, Land of the Chamorro). David Westwood designed it and Jim Licaretz sculpted it. Released May 26.

American Samoa

An ava bowl, whisk and staff used in Samoan ceremony, with SAMOA MUAMUA LE ATUA (Samoa, God Is First). Stephen Clark designed it and Charles Vickers sculpted it. Released July 27.

U.S. Virgin Islands

The three main islands with a bananaquit, a yellow cedar flower and a tyre palm, and the motto UNITED IN PRIDE AND HOPE. Joseph Menna designed and sculpted it. Released September 28.

Northern Mariana Islands

A latte stone, a Carolinian canoe and two white fairy terns inside a Carolinian head lei. Richard Masters designed it and Phebe Hemphill sculpted it. Released November 30.

• Obverse. Washington's portrait, inscriptions and mint mark are placed as on the state quarters, with the mark right of the ponytail and below IN GOD WE TRUST. The 2009 date is on the reverse.
• P and D. Philadelphia and Denver struck the circulation coins. The six designs total between about 73 million and 172 million coins each, P and D together.
• Satin finish. The 2009 Uncirculated Coin Set holds P and D coins of all six designs with the satin finish the Mint adopted in 2005. NGC gives 784,614 of each.
• S proofs. San Francisco struck clad proofs for the regular proof sets (2,113,478 of each design, per NGC) and 90% silver proofs for the silver proof sets (996,548 of each). A copper stripe on the edge marks a clad coin.

Doubled dies are known on the 2009 quarters, on circulation coins and on the satin-finish coins from Mint sets. The Wexler doubled die catalog marks the satin ones with "SF" after the mint and denomination, as in its Puerto Rico and Northern Mariana Islands listings, so the code tells you which finish a variety was found on. What our catalog lists for the program, by type and newest first, follows.

• Circulation, Mint set and clad proof coins: outer layers of 75% copper and 25% nickel over a pure copper core; 5.67 g; 24.26 mm; reeded edge.
• Silver proofs: 90% silver and 10% copper; 6.25 g; 24.26 mm; reeded edge; 0.1808 troy ounce of silver, according to NGC.