Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Mint today announced that a limited edition of 75,000 North Carolina Official First Day Coin Covers will be available online at www.USMINT.gov. at 12:00 noon Eastern Time on April 30, 2001. The Official First Day Coin Covers feature two North Carolina quarters from the first day of mintage—February 26, 2001.

Priced at $19.95, the Official First Day Coin Cover includes quarters from both the Philadelphia and Denver Mint facilities on a handsome display card with the 34-cent Statue of Liberty postage stamp.

The postmark of “March 12, 2001, Raleigh, North Carolina” marks the day that the North Carolina quarters were first released to the Federal Reserve Bank and the public—certifying this limited edition and honoring America’s “Tar Heel State.” The coin’s design features the historic 12-second first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. The North Carolina quarter is the 12th coin of the 50 State Quarters™ Program that honors 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 can purchase the North Carolina Official First Day Coin Covers four ways: First, they can save shipping and handling charges by using the Mint’s secure web site www.USMINT.gov. Second, they can call 1-800-USA-MINT. Third, they may download an order form at the web site and fax it to (301) 344-4150. Fourth, mail orders may be sent to U.S. Mint, Customer Care Center, Lanham, MD 20706-2275 (Attention: Order Processing). A shipping and handling fee of $3.95 per order will be added to all fax, mail and telephone orders for these products. Hearing and speech impaired customers may order by calling (301) 344-4144 (TTY). Please allow approximately 3-4 weeks for delivery.