WASHINGTON – The United States Mint today announced that the limited edition of 75,000 Michigan Official First Day Coin Covers will be available online at www.usmint.gov, beginning at noon (E.T.) on March 11, 2004. The availability of this product was temporarily delayed in February.

Priced at $19.95, the Michigan Official First Day Coin Cover, which is also available through the United States Mint’s Subscription Program, features two Michigan commemorative quarter-dollar coins – one each bearing a mint mark from the United States Mint facilities at Philadelphia and Denver. Struck on January 5, 2004, the first day of mintage, the quarter-dollar coins are mounted on a handsome display card with a cancelled 37-cent United States Flag postage stamp.

The postmark of “JAN 26, 2004, DETROIT RIVER STATION, DETROIT, MI, 48222” marks the day the Michigan quarter-dollar coins were first released to the Federal Reserve Bank and to the public. The Michigan quarter is the 26th in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program, which honors the states in the order that they ratified the U.S. Constitution or were admitted into the Union. Five state designs will be issued each year through 2008, at approximately 10-week intervals.

On January 26, 1837, Michigan became the 26th state to be admitted into the Union. The Michigan quarter depicts a textured outline of the State and the Great Lakes system. The quarter is inscribed “Great Lakes State”. Michigan borders four of the five Great Lakes, more than any other state.

Customers can purchase the Michigan Official First Day Coin Covers online through the United States Mint’s secure website at www.usmint.gov, or by calling toll-free 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468) 8:00 a.m. to midnight (E.T.), seven days a week. Hearing- and speech-impaired customers may order by calling 1-888-321-MINT (6468) 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (E.T.), Monday through Friday.

As an added convenience, customers can participate in a Subscription 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 $4.95 per order will be added to all orders. Please allow approximately three to four weeks for delivery.