The US Mint began selling U.S. Virgin Islands Quarter First Day Coin Covers today at noon ET for $14.95.
The 20,000 limited edition cover includes two of the quarters struck from the first day they were minted — Aug. 3, 2009. One quarter-dollar is from the Mint’s Denver facility while the other was produced in Philadelphia.
An attractive display card housing the two quarters includes a 44-cent Flag stamp and a postmark of SEP 28, 2009, CHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST. THOMAS, VI, marking when the quarters were first released to the public.
An outline of the three major islands (St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John) of the US Virgin Islands is featured on the reverse of the quarter. Also shown is the offical bird of the territory the yellow breast, sometimes called the banana quit, as well as the yellow cedar or yellow elder, the official flower. A Tyre Palm Tree appears along with the inscriptions, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS and United in Pride and Hope, the official motto of the territory. It was sculpted by Joseph Menna.
The US Virgin Islands Quarter is the fifth coin in a series of six issued in the 2009 District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program. The other five quarter-dollars commemorate the D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
US Virgin Islands quarter mintages and sales figures
The US Virgin Islands quarters have earned the lowest total mintage title for any 2009 quarter-dollar at 82 million. The 2009-P US Virgin Islands quarter has the lowest mintage of any Philadelphia struck quarter at 41 million.
Still scarcest of all quarters is the 2009-D American Samoa Quarter with its 39.6 million mintage. The 2009-D and 2009-P US Virgin Islands quarters share the second spot. (See US Virgin Islands Quarters Mintages.)
While these figures may seem high to the casual observer, it is a mere shadow compared to any state quarter mintages.
Additionally, the US Mint offers circulating US Virgin Islands quarters in bags and rolls. The following table shows the latest available sale figures for these compared to their week prior numbers (Nov. 1 vs. Nov. 11).
US Virgin Islands Quarter Sales |
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Old Sales
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New Sales
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Unit Change
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% Increase
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Total
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100-Coin Bag (P) | 6,352 | 6,557 | 205 | 3.2% | 12,955 | |
100-Coin Bag (D) | 6,184 | 6,398 | 214 | 3.5% | ||
1000-Coin Bag (P) | 1,165 | 1,173 | 8 | 0.7% | 2,318 | |
1000-Coin Bag (D) | 1,140 | 1,145 | 5 | 0.4% | ||
Two-Roll Set | 28,296 | 29,239 | 943 | 3.3% | 29,239 | |
US Mint coin information page: D.C. & US Territories Collectibles |
The first four Official First Day Coin Covers are still on sale at the US Mint for the same $14.95 price. As of Nov. 8, 2009, the DC quarter cover has sales figures of 16,605, Puerto Rico quarter cover stands at 13,203, the Guam cover at 9,647, and the American Samoa at 7,715.
American Samoa quarter cover order information
Orders may be placed online at the US Mint page:
2009 U.S. Virgin Islands Official First Day Coin Cover
The covers may also be purchased through the Mint’s toll-free number, 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). Hearing and speech-impaired customers may order by calling 1-888-321-MINT (6468).
Original Mint artist renderings and descriptions for each quarter may be found at 2009 Quarter Designs. Additional quarter program information is provided by the Mint here.
I have a 2007 Virgin Island quarter. And i can’t find any info on it. can anyone help.
I just got one today, as change from a restaurant. I’m 99% sure it’s a fake. The bust of Washington is all wrong, it doesn’t say what denomination it is, the weight is off, there are no ridges on the outside, and it doesn’t even sound like a quarter. I live outside of Washington DC and I’m looking forward to taking this up to the mint very soon.
Did anyone find out about the 2007 virgin Island quarters