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CNMI quarter to be released end of 2009
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Posted on Dec 16 2008
The United States Mint announced yesterday that the CNMI’s specially designed quarter would be placed into circulation around November 2009.
As part of the U.S. Mint’s state quarter program, the CNMI’s quarter will be the last one released. The six quarters released next year depict the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories. The order is based on when the state or territory joined the U.S.
“Like the 50 state quarters program before it, these new quarters will encourage Americans to appreciate the unique history of the District of Columbia and the territories of the United States,” said U.S. Mint director Ed Moy in a statement. “While we focus on each one’s individuality, we also recognize the common thread that unites us all.”
The CNMI’s design features a latte stone sitting on the shoreline, an outrigger canoe, a pair of white fairy terns, and a mwar.
The design was based on narratives submitted by the CNMI’s three-member commemorative coin commission, made up of the governor’s special assistant for administration Esther Fleming, attorney Teresa Kim, and Catherine Perry Anderson.
The state quarter program was enacted in 1997 and the first quarter was circulated in 1999. Territories were originally not going to be a part of the program, but in 2007 President Bush signed a bill adding the territories to the program. The U.S. Mint estimates the state quarter program has generated $4.6 billion in seigniorage since the program began in 1999.
InvestorWords.com defines seigniorage as the profit that results from the difference in the cost of printing money and the face value of that money.
