Washington, D.C. – May 17, 2000. The U.S. Mint today announced that the new South Carolina Quarter under the 50 State Quarters Program will be available online at www.USMINT.gov beginning Wednesday, May 24 at 12:00 Noon (Eastern Time) for a 72-hour sales period and ending at 12:00 Noon (Eastern Time) on Saturday, May 27.

“As South Carolina’s quarter, the eighth coin in the 50 State Quarters Program is made available, we continue to see the popularity and genuine interest of the commemorative quarters being collected by the American people,” said Acting Director John P. Mitchell. “This was evidenced by the sell-out of the Maryland quarter bags in less than two hours in April. Therefore, the Mint will institute a 72-hours sales period, without limits, for the South Carolina quarter bags. The Mint will accept and fulfill all orders received during this time period.”

“We believe the purchase period without limits better responds to the needs of our Customers, and allows everyone to participate in this exciting offer,” said Associate Director of Numismatics David Pickens.

The Maryland quarter bags pushed the Mint web site to its first multi-million dollar hour on April 3, with a total single hour sales reaching $2.7 million. The Maryland quarter bags went on sale at 9 a.m. By 11 a.m., both the 100-coin bags and 1,000-coin bags were sold out.

The South Carolina quarter features an intriguing group of symbols; the state’s geographical outline; its nickname, “The Palmetto State”; a palmetto tree; the Carolina Wren; an image of the Yellow Jessamine flower-the state’s flower; and a star indicating Columbia-the state capital.

The Mint-sewn bags feature South Carolina quarters struck on our main production floors in Philadelphia and Denver. Each bag is marked with the mint facility of origin and the dollar value of its contents ($25 or $250). These are the same coins that are shipped to the Federal Reserve for distribution in commerce. They will be shipped by the Mint directly to customers in 100-coin bags for $35.50 and in $1,000-coin bags for $300.00.

Customers may order the South Carolina quarters in bags directly online via the U.S. Mint secure web server at www.USMINT.gov and pay no additional shipping and handling charges. Customers who prefer to fax their orders may download an order form at the web site and fax it to (301) 344-4150, and customers also may order by telephone by calling 1-800-USA-MINT. (Telephone and fax orders incur a shipping and handling fee of $3.95 per order.) No mail orders will be accepted. Hearing and speech impaired customers may order by calling 301-344-4144. Please allow approximately 6-8 weeks for delivery.