Washington, D.C. - The United States Mint today announced that the limited edition of 75,000 Alabama Official First Day Coin Covers will be available for sale online at www.usmint.gov beginning 12:00 Noon (E.D.T.) on April 7, 2003.  The Alabama Official First Day Coin Cover, which is also available through the United States Mint's subscription program, features two Alabama State commemorative quarters from February 24, 2003, the first day of mintage.

Priced at $19.95, the Alabama Official First Day Coin Cover includes quarters from both the Philadelphia and Denver Mint facilities on a handsome display card with a 37-cent United States Flag postage stamp.

The postmark of "March 17, 2003, Tuscumbia, AL" indicates the day Alabama commemorative quarters were released to the Federal Reserve Bank and the public.  The Alabama quarter is the 22nd in the 50 State Quartersâ Program, which honors each of the states in the order that it ratified the Constitution or was admitted into the Union.  Five state designs will be issued each year through 2008 at approximately 10-week intervals.

Alabama was admitted into the Union on December 14, 1819.  The Alabama quarter's reverse (tails) design features an image of Helen Keller with her name in English, and in a reduced-size version of braille.  The Alabama quarter is the first U.S. circulating coin to feature braille.  An Alabama long leaf pine branch and magnolias grace the sides of the design, and a "Spirit of Courage" banner underlines the central image.

Customers can purchase the Alabama Official First Day Coin Covers by using the United States Mint's secure website, www.usmint.gov, or by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).  As an added convenience, customers can participate in a subscription-ordering program in which specific products, such as Official First Day Coin Covers, are charged and shipped to the customer automatically as each new state quarter is released.  A shipping and handling fee of $3.95 per order will be added to all orders.  Hearing- and speech-impaired customers may order by calling 1-888-321-MINT (6468) (TTY).

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