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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Banks will get Michigan
coins early this weekQuestion: I am collecting state quarters for my grandchildren. I was getting them from Central Pacific Bank but was informed that they discontinued giving them out at the end of last year. I can't get any more. Can you find out where I can go?
Answer: You can try your luck at getting Michigan quarters -- the 26th state quarter to be released -- at Central Pacific Bank this week.
The Federal Reserve Bank distributes the special state quarters along with regular quarters and other coins periodically to commercial banks nationwide.
The typical way of obtaining the quarters is as change through normal commercial transactions, according to the Reserve.
However, banks can also place special orders for the commemorative coins.
That's what Central Pacific Bank was doing, until it discontinued the special orders in November because of the additional costs incurred, said bank spokeswoman Ann Takiguchi.
"Those customers who collect the coins should still check when they visit our bank because oftentimes, when a shipment of quarters is brought in to replenish our supplies, the batch includes those special coins," Takiguchi said.
For example, she said the bank would be distributing about 1,000 Michigan quarters to its 24 branches today or tomorrow.
It just depends on availability, Takiguchi said.
Because the quarters are in general circulation, they are not considered collectibles.
However, you can purchase special collector sets from the U.S. Mint -- which produces the coins -- by calling 800-872-6468.
Information about the quarters is available on the Web site www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/index.cfm?action =50_state_quarters_program.
The quarters commemorating each of the 50 states are being issued at 10-week intervals, in order of their ratification of the U.S. Constitution or when they were admitted to the Union.
The U.S. Mint notes that the date the quarters are released by the Federal Reserve is not necessarily the same as the date they are made available to the general public.
Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and Connecticut were the first states to be honored, in 1999.
In 2008, quarters commemorating Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii -- in that order -- will be released.
In addition to the first five states, already circulating are quarters for Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, Missouri and Arkansas.
The Michigan quarter was released in late January.
The next quarter to be released will honor Florida, followed by Texas, Iowa and Wisconsin; California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas and West Virginia, in 2005; Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota and South Dakota, in 2006; Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah, in 2007; and the previously mentioned states in 2008.
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