State Quarters Program May Expand! Article from AOL

[comicAL]

Hi, All

 

Looks like the expanding State Quarters Program is part of the first 100 hours of the *spoon* agenda!

 

Article from AOL.

 

AAJ

 

 

State Quarter Program May Expand

Push Is on to Honor D.C., U.S. Territories

By Barbara Hagenbaugh

USA Today

WASHINGTON — Coin collectors dreading the end of the 50-state quarter program next year may get a temporary reprieve.

 

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., introduced legislation Wednesday that would extend the popular state quarter program to add coins honoring Washington, D.C., as well as American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Similar bills have passed the House of Representatives four times before stalling in the Senate.

 

Norton, who has been lobbying for the quarters for nearly a decade, is confident that with *spoon* now in control of both the House and the Senate, new quarters representing Washington and the territories will be on their way. House leaders have put the bill on a slate of non-controversial items that could be voted on soon, Norton says.

 

The 50-state quarter program was launched in 1999 and is scheduled to wrap up at the end of 2008 with the minting of the quarter for Hawaii, the last state to enter the union. The program has been extremely popular with collectors. From 125 million to 130 million people in the USA — or close to half the U.S. population — collect the state quarters, according to the American Numismatic Association.

 

The coins honoring Washington and the territories will likely be popular with the state quarters collectors, Coin World editor Beth Deisher says. But collectors who bought special folders and albums with 50 slots for a quarter from each state may not be as interested because they won't have a special place to put them.

 

"It would give us a great learning opportunity," Deisher says. "But the hurdle of them not being included early on, so the makers of albums could produce suitable albums and holders, is problematic."

 

Deisher says some collectors have told her that they would prefer that Washington and the territories be honored in their own, separate program, because they simply are not states.

 

But Guam's delegate to Congress, Madeleine Bordallo, says that's not a good idea.

 

"A separate program would only emphasize our differences rather than celebrate our commonalities," she says. Being part of the state quarter program would "mean recognition that we are a part of the U.S. family."

 

 

Copyright 2007 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. All Rights Reserved.

2007-01-11 07:31:19

[MunkyMan95]

Coin collectors dreading the end of the 50-state quarter program next year

 

Who?

[LuvToCollect]

This bill has been introduced and reintroduced. I suspect it will meet the same treatment as in the past.

[cpm9ball]

If it does pass, the military and the CIA better work on scenarios to take over four other countries so we can have five new quarters each year.

 

Chris

[Zoins]

How about a quarter for Iraq and another for Afghanistan?

[cpm9ball]

How about a quarter for Iraq and another for Afghanistan?

 

But, I can't read Arabic and their dates are too hard to figure out.

 

Chris

[DC Dawg]

The bill H.R. 392 was introduced by DC Delegate Eleanore Holmes Norton, as she did for the 109th Congress. The difference between the this attempt and the previous ones is that rather than just being seconded by the delegates from the territories, the seconds include Rep Michael Castle (R-DE), Rep Barney Frank (D-MA), and Rep Luis Gutierrez (D-IL). The key person of this group is Barney Frank.

 

Frank is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. In order for this bill to get through committee and be put on the schedule for a floor vote, it has to pass the Financial Services Committee. Since Frank has his name attached to the bill, it is very likely that he would allow the bill out of committee. If I had to bet, I would make the odds even-money on its passage.

 

This will make 2009 a very interesting year!

 

Scott

[astrostu]

To be honest, I'm pretty darn sick of this SQ program. During the first three years or so, I was really into it, memorizing the order of statehood and year, etc., but now it's just tedious. But I think that has been discussed before ...

[DC Dawg]

Sorry, astrostu, I love the program. I think it was the best idea the congress has come up with. The Presidential $1 program would be better if congress would mandate the end of the $1 FRN!

 

Scott

[Zoins]

Hmm. I wonder if they ever considered a $1 FRN Presidential program

 

As for too many states, I heard that Texas is allowed to split itself into 5 states at any time from a Texan who said this was part of the conditions under which they were admitted to the Union. Then there's the cursory talk about splitting California into North and South. Imagine the havok that would cause with the State Quarters program???