Washington, D.C., June 19, 2000 -- The U.S. Mint today announced that a limited edition of 75,000 South Carolina Official Commemorative Coin Covers featuring two South Carolina quarters from the first day of mintage -- May 8, 2000 -- will be available through its online catalog at www.USMINT.gov. On June 26, at 12:00 Noon, Eastern Time, the Mint will begin sales of the first Official Commemorative Coin Cover featuring the South Carolina quarter.

"We are especially excited to present the South Carolina Official Commemorative Coin Cover as the next 50 State Quarters™ Official Commemorative Cover in the series for sale," said U.S. Mint Director Jay W. Johnson. "The American public is not only increasingly aware of the 50 State Quarters Program, but is eagerly searching out the latest new quarter. Each coin builds interest in coins as tangible artifacts of history and art, in addition to encouraging all ages, especially young people, to build their own coin collections."

"The continued popularity of the commemorative coin covers reflects our increased focus of developing new and exciting official Mint collectibles for our customer!" said Associate Director of Numismatics David Pickens.

Priced at $19.95, the South Carolina Official Commemorative Coin Cover includes quarters from both the Philadelphia and Denver facilities on a handsome display card with the 33-cent Flag-Over-City postage stamp. The postmark of “May 22, 2000, Columbia, South Carolina” marks the day the South Carolina quarters were first released to the Federal Reserve and the public - certifying this limited edition and honoring “The Palmetto State.”

The reverse design of the South Carolina quarter features the Carolina Wren (the state bird), the Yellow Jessamine (the state flower), and the Palmetto (the state tree). The significance of the Palmetto tree dates back to the Revolutionary War when colonists used a fort made of Palmetto logs to successfully defeat the British fleet trying to capture Charleston Harbor. An outline of South Carolina and a star indicating the capital, Columbia, form the quarter's background.

The South Carolina quarters are the eighth coins of the 50 State Quarters™ Program that will honor each of the 50 states in the order they entered the union. Five state designs will be issued each year through 2008 at approximately 10-week intervals.

Customers may order the South Carolina Official Commemorative Coin Cover 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. Mail orders to U.S. Mint, Customer Care Center, Lanham, MD 20706-4331 Attention: Order Processing. (Telephone, fax, and mail orders incur shipping and handling fee of $3.95 per order.) Hearing and speech-impaired customers may order by calling 301-344-4144. Please allow approximately 6-8 weeks for delivery.