**OREGON'S "CRATER LAKE" ADDED TO 50 STATE QUARTERS^®^ COLLECTIONS**

![](media/image1.png){width="1.5in" height="1.4534722222222223in"} The
United States Mint's popular 50 State Quarters^®^ Program continues its
seventh year on June 6^th^ with the release of the Oregon commemorative
quarter dollar coin. It is the 33^rd^ quarter in the United States
Mint's series that honors all 50 States in the order in which they were
admitted into the Union.

On June 15, 2005, United States Mint Associate Director Gloria Eskridge
will join Governor Ted Kulongoski for a launch ceremony at the Oregon
Historical Society in Portland.

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="0.9895833333333334in" height="0.83125in"}
The coin's reverse design features a stunning view of Crater Lake, the
deepest lake in the United States, viewed from the south-southwest rim.
The design incorporates Wizard Island, as well as Watchman and Hillman
Peaks on the lake's rim and conifers. The coin bears the inscriptions
"Crater Lake," "Oregon," "1859," "E Pluribus Unum" and "2005" on its
reverse.

![](media/image3.jpeg){width="1.5in" height="1.5in"} Following the
ceremony, there will be a coin exchange that is expected to place more
than 200,000 new Oregon quarters into circulation.

**VIRTUAL TOUR II NEARS COMPLETION**

Following the successful launch of last year's Virtual Tour, an online,
multimedia presentation detailing the step-by-step circulating coin
production process, the United States Mint is finishing up a sequel. The
new tour, dubbed Virtual Tour II, will take viewers on a multimedia tour
of the numismatic production processes, focusing on the United States
Mint's facilities in San Francisco, where most of the proof coin
production takes place, and West Point, where the silver, gold and
platinum American Eagle coins are manufactured. Set to debut in late
July, the tour will be offered as both streaming video as well as a
slide-show compilation of still photography with accompanying text.

**MARINE CORPS 230^th^ ANNIVERSARY SILVER DOLLAR TO BE RELEASED IN JULY
2005**

# ![](media/image4.jpeg){width="1.5in" height="1.5in"} Beginning July 20^th^, 2005, The United States Mint will offer the Marine Corps 230^th^ Anniversary Silver Dollar. Struck from brilliant 90% silver, this stunning coin features on its obverse a rendition of Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal's historic photograph of the raising of an American flag by the United States Marines atop Mount Suribachi on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. Taken on February 23, 1945, it is believed to be the most reproduced image in the history of photography.

#  The coin's reverse features an engraving of the Eagle, Globe and Anchor, official emblem of the United States Marine Corps which has remained virtually unchanged since 1868, when United States Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles approved the design. The coin will be available in proof and uncirculated condition, and be part of two limited-edition, collector sets including a coin and stamp set and the American Legacy Collection.

####### UNCIRCULATED SET DEBUTS WITH NEW SATIN FINISH

Sales of the 2005 United States Mint Uncirculated Coin Set began on May
31, 2005, and for the first time ever, the coins in this popular set
features a satin finish. The release for this set is three weeks earlier
than in 2004, as part of the United States Mint's commitment to making
many of its products available earlier in the year, at the request of
its customers.

The United States Mint chose the new satin finish because it is handsome
and provides consistency for United States Mint uncirculated products,
including the Uncirculated Coin Set, Commemorative Coins and American
Eagle Silver Bullion coins. The satin finish, which will be continued on
uncirculated coin sets in the future, will also help collectors
differentiate between Uncirculated Coins in the United States Mint
Uncirculated Coin Sets and those coins in bags and rolls that have never
circulated. The 22 coin set contains "P" and "D" versions of all 11
circulating coins issued for 2005, including the five new coins released
in the 50 State Quarters Program and both the American Bison and Ocean
in View nickels, this year's additions to the Westward Journey Nickel
Series^TM^.

**AMERICAN LEGACY COLLECTION NEW FOR 2005**

####### 

![](media/image5.jpeg){width="2.7805555555555554in"
height="3.0347222222222223in"} The United States Mint is ready to take
the wraps off a new premium product. Containing proof versions of all
regular issue United States Mint circulating coins, the new American
Legacy Collection will also include a proof version of both the Chief
Justice John Marshall and Marine Corps 230^th^ Anniversary Silver
Dollars. By combining these two commemoratives with the 2005-dated
circulating coins in proof condition, the American Legacy Collection is
the most complete offering of United States Mint coins available, and is
reminiscent of the United States Mint's Prestige Set, offered in years
past.

UNITED STATES MINT

H.I.P. POCKET CHANGE^TM^

FEATURES OREGON QUARTER

![](media/image6.png){width="1.0416666666666667in"
height="1.0416666666666667in"} As an ongoing part of the United States
Mint's Education Initiative, several items featuring the newly released
Oregon state quarter have recently been added to the H.I.P. Pocket
Change website, including a large black and white blow-up of the coin
that kids can download and color as part of Oregon State Quarter Day in
the Classroom. The site also features the following three new Lesson
Plans specific to the Oregon quarter for grades K-6; Crater Creation
(K-1), Let's Look at Legends (2-3), and Explosive Ideas! (4-6).

Lesson plans are also available for grades 7-12 and include such topics
as developing a national identity, Roman culture and coins, the
Industrial Revolution and global views on currency. These plans can be
found at [**www.usmint.gov/kids**](http://www.usmint.gov/kids) and all
are free to download and distribute.