This won't make some people happy - US territory quarters approved by Congress
Michigan
Posts: 4,942 ✭
The District has no vote in Congress, its laws can be trampled by federal legislators and even its streets can be closed by the feds on a moment's notice.
But after nearly 10 years of fighting, the city finally won a new mark of respect this week.
It will have its very own quarter.
The measure, tucked into a giant federal spending bill, puts the District on the same level as the 50 states, at least when it comes to the popular coins showcasing home-state icons such as mountains, birds, race cars and fiddles. The D.C. quarter is due in 2009, with a design yet to be determined.
"Can you believe it? How many years have I tried to get that?" exulted the city's congressional delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), who has repeatedly introduced bills to get the District a place on the quarter's flip side.
Despite Norton's vigorous lobbying and arm-twisting, it was not the District's quest for equality that ultimately carried the day.
It was Puerto Rico's.
Rep. Jos¿ E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) inserted language into the spending bill to provide quarters for his native Puerto Rico, as well as the District, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Serrano became chairman this year of the House Appropriations subcommittee on financial services, which oversees important agencies such as the U.S. Treasury. That gave him the power of the purse, or at least the quarter.
"I said 'Ah-ha!' " Serrano recalled. "So I said, 'Puerto Rico will get a quarter. But it shouldn't be just Puerto Rico; it should be all the territories.' "
Not that the District is a territory, he quickly pointed out. "But it's certainly treated that way."
The District and the territories were left out when a law establishing the nationwide quarters program was passed in 1998. The U.S. Mint began issuing the coins the following year, rolling them out in the order that states were admitted to the union. The program was to wind up next year; so far, about 30 billion coins have been minted.
But after nearly 10 years of fighting, the city finally won a new mark of respect this week.
It will have its very own quarter.
The measure, tucked into a giant federal spending bill, puts the District on the same level as the 50 states, at least when it comes to the popular coins showcasing home-state icons such as mountains, birds, race cars and fiddles. The D.C. quarter is due in 2009, with a design yet to be determined.
"Can you believe it? How many years have I tried to get that?" exulted the city's congressional delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), who has repeatedly introduced bills to get the District a place on the quarter's flip side.
Despite Norton's vigorous lobbying and arm-twisting, it was not the District's quest for equality that ultimately carried the day.
It was Puerto Rico's.
Rep. Jos¿ E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) inserted language into the spending bill to provide quarters for his native Puerto Rico, as well as the District, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Serrano became chairman this year of the House Appropriations subcommittee on financial services, which oversees important agencies such as the U.S. Treasury. That gave him the power of the purse, or at least the quarter.
"I said 'Ah-ha!' " Serrano recalled. "So I said, 'Puerto Rico will get a quarter. But it shouldn't be just Puerto Rico; it should be all the territories.' "
Not that the District is a territory, he quickly pointed out. "But it's certainly treated that way."
The District and the territories were left out when a law establishing the nationwide quarters program was passed in 1998. The U.S. Mint began issuing the coins the following year, rolling them out in the order that states were admitted to the union. The program was to wind up next year; so far, about 30 billion coins have been minted.
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Comments
<< <i>Well, now the term 'Statehood' must be dropped from the program.... it is now simply the Area Quarter Program. Statehood used to mean something. Cheers, RickO >>
Nah, just have two programs. SHQs and TQs.
One plastic shell with the nickel, dime, half and Sacagawea;
One shell with the four Lincoln cents;
One shell with the four Presidential dollars; and
One shell with the five territorial/whatever quarters.
17 coins total, unless they decide to do the Sacagawea with both the traditional reverse and the tribal reverse!!!!!!!!!!
As a wise man once said: "OY!!!"
Most Americans aren't even aware that we have territories!
<< <i>Most Americans aren't even aware that we have territories! >>
I found out about them when the US issued the Freedom Tower Dollar.
<< <i>
"I said 'Ah-ha!' " Serrano recalled. "So I said, 'Puerto Rico will get a quarter. But it shouldn't be just Puerto Rico; it should be all the territories.' " >>
It's refreshing to see an elected official without any special agenda's.
<< <i>Michigan: can you please cite a source? >>
Washington Post web site.
<< <i>That's cool.
Most Americans aren't even aware that we have territories! >>
I would guess that is mostly correct. Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands are a long way from the US mainland
and not that popular for vacations since people looking for fun in the sun find Hawaii, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands much closer.
Guam is very popular with tourists from Japan and South Korea.
I can add a new page to my Dansco album, afterall I did it for my Jeffie nickels, I'll need to do it for my Sac dollars, I added a gold page to my 7070 type album.
No sweat.
The PROOF and Mint sets are definitely going to be substantial on 09.
<< <i>That's cool.
Most Americans aren't even aware that we have territories! >>
They should have announced this sooner, but I agree. These will probably be the most educational of the entire series. Still, Puerto Rico has been milking the cow from both ends for years--getting the rights of a state without any of the taxes and responsibilities. They ought to suck it up and become Number 51.
No different than '07 & '08.
'Com on, can't say we didn't see this coming.
More surprised that I haven't heard rumors of another special series for the rev. of quarters after '09.......American Mountain ranges, etc., after all aren't these cash cows for the mint?
http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=623526
<< <i>The PROOF and Mint sets are definitely going to be substantial on 09.
No different than '07 & '08.
'Com on, can't say we didn't see this coming.
More surprised that I haven't heard rumors of another special series for the rev. of quarters after '09.......American Mountain ranges, etc., after all aren't these cash cows for the mint? >>
Don't forget the four 2009 Lincoln cents!!!!!
Should be four "lenses" as the Mint calls them.
TD
<< <i>
<< <i>Michigan: can you please cite a source? >>
Washington Post web site. >>
Thank you. Please cite sources on all cut and pastes.
TD
`(7) TERRITORY DEFINED- For purposes of this subsection, the term `territory' means the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.'.
So, unless I am reading this wrong.
DC
Puerto Rico
Guam
America Samoa
Virgin Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
Six new Quarters coming down the pipe!
Gardnerville, NV
=========================
Our Website -->Innovation, Native & Presidential Dollar Errors, Lincoln Cents and more
Check it out --> Our eBay Auctions
sigh. i will use my own advice here.
<< <i>How about a Congressman pouring a large bucket of $ down a hole on the Reverse? >>
Or a citizen bent over on the reverse
My quarter collection will end at Hawaii, and I do not see that changing.
Funny but makes a good point.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>Michigan: can you please cite a source? >>
Washington Post web site. >>
Thank you. Please cite sources on all cut and pastes.
TD >>
Michigan, please provide a direct link to your source, thank you.
I'd like a direct link. According to this site, the bill hasn't been approved by the Senate, and has been
rejected in various forms every year since 1999.
Bill approved in House Jan 2007, Senate hasn't approved it
Free Trial
<< <i>Still, Puerto Rico has been milking the cow from both ends for years--getting the rights of a state without any of the taxes and responsibilities. They ought to suck it up and become Number 51. >>
You DO know they pay Puerto Rican income tax, and the rates are higher than the mainland?
They also pay Medicare and Social Security.
Jerry
<< <i>
<< <i>Still, Puerto Rico has been milking the cow from both ends for years--getting the rights of a state without any of the taxes and responsibilities. They ought to suck it up and become Number 51. >>
You DO know they pay Puerto Rican income tax, and the rates are higher than the mainland?
They also pay Medicare and Social Security. >>
I stand corrected. I was thinking more about corporate tax breaks--feel free to correct me on that, too, if appropriate!
<< <i>I can add a new page to my Dansco album, afterall I did it for my Jeffie nickels, I'll need to do it for my Sac dollars, I added a gold page to my 7070 type album. >>
There's already several unmarked holes on the last page, I believe.
60 years into this hobby and I'm still working on my Lincoln set!
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
i am upset because our federal government should have many other things
to do and this should be way at the bottom.
aren't we at war? oh yea, guns and butter.
how about that spending by the federal govt?
is social security going to go broke in a decade?
how is that war on drugs working out?
how is that border and the illegal immigrant issue?
sigh
but on the other hand i should be happy they are distracted by the stupid
quarter stuff so they cannot ruin things even more.
Not like there is anything important that Congress should be working on that they spend their time on junk like this....
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
<< <i>Leave it to the democraps.
Not like there is anything important that Congress should be working on that they spend their time on junk like this.... >>
They need to raise money any way they can to help reduce the astronomic deficits run up by the Republicans. The Dems wanted to take Warren Buffet's advice and raise money by making hedge fund managers--you know the guys making $100,000,000 a year who buy proof gold from Laura Sperber--pay taxes at ordinary income rates like the rest of us, instead of paying capital gains rates, but the Repubs killed that plan, so now they have to look elsewhere for $$$.
CG
http://www.examiner.com/a-1115861~Washington__D_C___5_territories_to_get_their_own_quarters.html
eBay listings
<< <i>
<< <i>Leave it to the democraps.
Not like there is anything important that Congress should be working on that they spend their time on junk like this.... >>
They need to raise money any way they can to help reduce the astronomic deficits run up by the Republicans. The Dems wanted to take Warren Buffet's advice and raise money by making hedge fund managers--you know the guys making $100,000,000 a year who buy proof gold from Laura Sperber--pay taxes at ordinary income rates like the rest of us, instead of paying capital gains rates, but the Repubs killed that plan, so now they have to look elsewhere for $$$.
CG >>
Instead of making excuses, I would say take them all out and shoot them...or at least remove them from a position of impacting everyday citizens for their own little enjoyment and lack of real work.
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
all in a years time. the mint better get hustling. time is a ticking !!!!
Link
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
<< <i>It is my recollection that Washington DC and other territories were slated for the last year of the statehood quarter program from the outset of the program. This is only news to some because some people ignored this fact until now. >>
Who slated it? I think it was a logical extension of the statehood program but there did not seem to be any groundswell of support
for the idea.
I agree!
Free Trial
<< <i>“While these are not states, their people live under our flag, and deserve our respect. Too often it is ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for these territories and D.C. Instead we should be honoring them for their contributions to the United States. Our nation would not be what it is today without their contributions to the national defense, the arts, music, politics, science, and sports. >>
I wonder if the people in these territories stand and pledge allegiance to the US or do they regard these territories as their Sacred homeland...
'97 or '98 but am not nearly so strongly against it any longer. Sure DC is
already grossly overrepresented considering the attention it gets. This is
supposed to be the "Statehood Quarter Program" not the "Everything Con-
nected to the US Quarter Program". What's next a quarter for Guantanamo
and our embassies and military bases everywhere?
Some of these areas really deserve the recognition. Especially Puerto Rico
which has been an important part of the US for over 100 years deserves to
be recognized. There have been numerous attempts to gain statehood for
this territory and one has to suspect that they'll eventually desire this. Per-
haps this will actually persuade a few more people. The Virgin Islands also
are very much a "part of the country" even if they aren't so visible.
Another year of "oddball" quarters will definitely swing the balance to having
more of the special issues in circulation than the eagle reverse coins. This
should prove interesting as more and more people look at more and more
sets that can be worked in circulation. Then there is the numismatic import-
ance of these territories. Many of them have old coinage that was used ex-
clusively in that territory. An expansion of the program will bring renewed in-
terest to the coinage of Puerto Rico including the countermarked US coins that
were used during the 19th century. Danish West Indies coins are an interest-
ing series that were used in the American Virgin Islands. There will be more
ties to all the coinage of the Americas through the countermarked PR issues.
But we aren't required to add these to the states collections. They're there
if you want them or if you don't.
<< <i> Why is everyone getting upset?
i am upset because our federal government should have many other things
to do and this should be way at the bottom.
aren't we at war? oh yea, guns and butter.
how about that spending by the federal govt?
is social security going to go broke in a decade?
how is that war on drugs working out?
how is that border and the illegal immigrant issue?
sigh
but on the other hand i should be happy they are distracted by the stupid
quarter stuff so they cannot ruin things even more. >>
I beg you, pardner
Nobody promised you a rose, gardener
Cheer up. You could be living any place else on Earth, and nowhere would it be as good as we got it.
Apropos of the coin posse/aka caca: "The longer he spoke of his honor, the tighter I held to my purse."
so i should just be complacent and just shut up? allow the fed critters to do their job because they know what is best for me
and my own?
i am very curious how the election goes for president and am
still undecided who i shall vote for. i will heavily lean towards the
person who wants a smaller federal govt, less spending, a balanced
budget, allow states to choose what they want, etc...
i am not sure i like how this country is changing into something
i barely recognize from when i grew up 30 years ago let alone
an old timer who remembers things very differently.
policital correctness being a good example of something that leaves
a terrible taste in my mouth.
merry christmas! not happy holiday. got it? you get the day off because
it is christmas! the celebration of the birth of jesus you moon bats!
heh