The U.S. State Quarter program began in 1999 and each state was released in the order in which it joined the union. The U.S. Mint estimates that around 147 million people have been collecting the state quarters since their release.

The program is also credited for drawing in new collectors and increasing the general public’s interest in coin collecting overall. Due to its popularity, more coin programs are currently in the works for the next several years.

The process in which each design was selected took cooperation from congress, the U.S. Mint, and each individual state. Once the governor is contacted, the state provided three to five narrative descriptions …